The Words of Dragons
by Stargold
Summary: In a reimagination of Cataclysm, the twilight dragon Araxion and the blue dragon Virigosa find themselves caught in a battle to shape the future of both their dragonflights and Azeroth itself.
1. Awakening

Some would call him lucky, others would not trade places with him for the world: regardless, his beginnings were humble.

His earliest memories were of darkness, and of sound. Vividly, he could remember the footsteps: the light, quick pitter-patter of the attendents, the hulking steps of the Faceless that patrolled the halls, the scraping of his mother's claws echoing through the cave as she watched over her brood. These simple observations made up his life. He did not know who or what he was, because nobody had ever told him. He did not know what light was, because he had never seen it.

And soon his understanding expanded beyond the simple sounds of movement. The guards and the attendants spoke, and even in his youth, he was skillful at picking up the meaning. "Shuul'wah" was one of the first he could recognize, and had been spoken by almost everyone. "Karkun" was one of his mother's favorite words, but most of the other beings could not understand it. Either way, his skill with languages was exceptional. Before long, he could understand every full conversation in the cave regardless on languages. With language came his first coherent thoughts: curiosity about the world, opinions on the individual attendants he heard go about their buisness.

As the weeks passed and his thoughts developed, another strange characteristic of his environment came to his attention. When certain beings came by, a peculiar feeling filled the area. It was a cold, dark feeling, that lingered even after they had left and chilled him to the bone. He could feel it with almost every being, many more than others. The Faceless in particular had this feeling about them, and at this realization he began to dread their footsteps when they began to approach him. His mother, once, leaned her body over to watch over the brood. The chill that washed over him was unlike that of even the Faceless, and it frightened him.

One day, one of the Faceless came close, bringing the strange, familiar feeling with it. There was a long pause without sound, then a strange, ugly sound in the Faceless tongue: "H'iwn thoq Phquathi". There was an odd sound, similar to when his mother moved in her pit of lava, but different in a way he could not describe. The cold was overpowering, and his thoughts went from frenzied to silent, like in his first months of life. The Faceless had retreated, yet even after it should have, the cold feeling lingered. It took time for him to realize, with horror, that the feeling came from himself.

After that day, his very body felt strange. For the first while after, it was simple pain, in the far parts of his body. This feeling evolved to discomfort, and later, to a strange swollen sensation. He had no room to move, to live. He was too big for his own body, it seemed. His body and his mind could not catch up to his size, and it was not a pleasant feeling.

The days continued passing, and the strangest sounds entered his awareness. It began first with strange thunks and frenzied movement, as the rest of his brood sought freedom from the shells in which they had lived for their entire lives. It escalated soon enough, to the sound of cracking and shattering and of claws and wings being tested out for the first time. He was one of the last to begin his struggle for freedom. A concerned attendant checked his egg, and offered to help break it; she was told off by her superiors. If one was too weak to escape his own egg, they explained, he was not strong enough to be of any value to the forces of Twilight.

It was a long, tiring process. His tail, he found, was hard and strong enough to break through, and he used it frequently. In desperation, he resorted to claws and teeth, and simply pressing his body against the shell of the egg in hope of cracking it. His efforts could not pay off soon enough. Freedom came eventually, and he savored his first glimpse of light. His wings were weak and wet, the fluid slowly leaking off and drying off of his body. He could not yet fly; that part would come later.

Overhead flew several older dragons, much larger than him or the rest of the brood. "Oh, isn't this a handsome one?" The speaker was an older female drake who spoke in Draconic to another beside her.

"I hope we get him." Her friend cackled. "He looks like he'd be a fun one. See those wings?"

There was suddenly a rope over his neck, and it was tightened from behind. An attendant, an old orc woman, pulled him off to the side. The brood was shuffled into another cave, where a senior attendant and an old dragon spoke. This wyrm was different from the others: its scales were dark as well, yes, but its wings and underside were orange tones. The twilight brood had dark, inky blue-black bodies, and wings displaying a vibrant gradiant of blue and purple tones.

"Sintharia's brood?" Asked the wyrm.

"Indeed," The attendant answered. "The children of Deathwing."

"A cut above the norm then, I expect," The wyrm commented. "Most of those that I record are the corrupted runts snatched from the lesser red and blue broods. I hope the Master is pleased."

The brood was lined up and records were entered. The wyrm assigned the young twilights their names, and they were recorded into a book by the senior attendant. The handsome young twilight and his orc attendant were one of the last to the front of the line, and the wyrm hardly gave him a glance.

"Araxion, male, Grim Batol, special, black, son of Sintharia and Deathwing." The wyrm stated, and the senior attendant rushed to copy it down.

And like that, Araxion was named. He and his brood were sequestered away in a special section of the Twilight compound, and there they slept, free from their eggs for the first time. For a long time the newly-hatched drakes were awake, daring not to speak; it was difficult, but eventually, each drifted into sweet sleep for the first time.


	2. Atop Mount Hyjal

Every morning, she woke to the sound of dragon roars echoing above the forest canopy, and to nervous chatter in both Darnassian and Common. Every day, she flew above the forest herself, and watched the flames slowly creep closer. Every night, she fell asleeping wishing to be home, wishing to feel the familiar cold and loneliness of Northrend that she knew and loved.

But home was no better, and if they failed here, there could very well be no home for her to return to. She was young, compared to most of her kind, and her memories of peace were distant. Those pleasant memories were like shadows, at the edge of her mind, but too far away and too unimportant to really ever acknowledge. No, her most vivid memories were the atrocities she'd witnessed; in some cases, those she'd committed. She was a murderer, yes, having slain both mortals and members of the Red Dragonflight during the Nexus War.

This time, in this new war, they were on the same side. The families of the Nexus War's victims were unlikely to be pleased, but there was so little time to mourn, so little time to discuss the subtleties of morality and justice. She had no say in the matter either, having been dispatched to Nordrassil by the elders of her flight once the first whispers of trouble reached their home in the cold north. There were many mortals there, and a handful of red drakes too. She never overheard any conversation about the war or about her presence there, but she was not spoken to much either. Just the courtesies: "Hello" or "Ishnu'alah", occasionally some small talk, but rarely any true conversations outside of business.

But she was afforded some respect for her role at the camp. Indeed, her presence was of vital importance; the Highborne were mostly elsewhere on Mount Hyjal, and she was one of the few beings there with any sort of magical talent. Her knowledge of magical artifacts was invaluable as well. The Twilight's Hammer possessed many items of immense power, and most of her comarades were unable to identify them. With her expertise, they could know where to send any item they discovered, and whether or not it was dangerous. There's no doubt that she saved lives.

Still, she was owed little respect. War was a funny thing in the way it affected the hearts and minds of the people involved, and Virigosa knew it. It was hard to blame the others; had the roles been reversed, would she not do the same thing? Regardless, it was a lonely existence.

Her average day was not dull by any stretch of the imagination. Virigosa always awoke at around noon, and only rested again when the first rays of dawn began to break up the inky blackness of the night sky. Northrend's day-night cycle was different, and at first, it was a difficult adjustment to make. Sometimes the nights were not very dark either: Ragnaros and the Twilight's Hammer had lit fires all over Mount Hyjal that grew ever-closer each day. Much of her time was spent watching these fires, tracking the activity of both the fires and the Twilight's Hammer.

There was great variation in her activities from day-to-day, too: some days, Virigosa would be tasked with sifting through a pile of artifacts. Others would be spent utilizing her magic for mundane tasks, like the creation of portals and the conjuration of food to supply the mortals with basic subsistence. Occasionally, she would be tasked along with a few other drakes with taking the fight directly to the Twilight's Hammer. These days were her favorite, as there was a lot of freedom in how she did that: she could strafe the ground with her icy breath, tear them to shreds, sweep them all away with her tail. It was strange, even morbid perhaps, but it was one of the few pleasures of war.

One day, Virigosa was called by the elven commander of the camp to the tent where the artifacts were stored. He beckoned her over to a strange object: a type of cube inlaid with strange lines and patterns.

"Harizius discovered this during the last raid on the far Twilight encampment," The commander explained. "We're not quite sure what it is, we were hoping that you might know."

Wordlessly, Virigosa stepped forward, lowering her head to the cube to inspect it closely. An idea entered her mind, and she placed a few talons on the top of the object. Immediately, she recoiled, staring at the commander with horror.

"Destroy it," The dragon's voice was grim, but calm. "I don't know what the Twilight's Hammer would want with that thing... I don't know how they could even come across such an idea."

The commander's expression was concerned, and he took a step towards Virigosa and the artifact. "What is it?"

"It looks like a sort of item meant to mimic an old blue dragon artifact, both in appearance and function," She answered. "It is difficult to explain the purpose to one such as yourself, but Malygos entrusted it to Neltharion long ago. It was to be buried within the earth so that none would ever find it."

Virigosa hesitated for a moment, but continued. "Should the cube be turned on, any magic in the area would be sucked in. Perhaps that does not sound bad to a night elf, but understand that the artifact would not discriminate. Not only would mages be incapable of using magic, but all creatures that survive off of magic would suffer. Dragons would die in its presence, the World-Tree Nordrassil would be reduced to a lifeless husk. On a place such as Mount Hyjal, it would be truly devastating."

The artifact itself was destroyed, as was instructed, but _they_ still arrived.

Nobody quite knows how they came: it was almost like they came from nowhere, and indeed, maybe they did. But regardless, their arrival was swift and it was devastating. The tables turned within a matter of hours. Originally, the Green Dragonflight and their Wyrmrest Accord allies were the only beings in the skies apart from the birds and the Druids of the Talon, seeing as the Black Dragonflight did not have any significant presence. The Twilight's Hammer, however, was joined by a new and strange type of dragon.

Their first attack was swift and deadly; the camp at which Virigosa had been stationed was their first target. The camp was engulfed in shadowfire, which raged through the camp's tents and licked at the trunks of the surronding trees. The mortals that tried to flee were torn apart, their mangled bodies left to be consumed by the fire.

Virigosa was the only one that had experience in dragon-to-dragon combat, and her skills served her well. The green dragons at the camp were lambs to the slaughter, their attacks consisting of futile swipes at the twilight dragons' shoulders and haunches. The cleverest of the greens tried to flee, but the twilights were swifter and more agile than any of them. Virigosa had watched their attempts to escape, and saw the pattern in their attacks.

The twilights were not aware of the lone remaining dragon, and one landed to investigate the area. Through the flames, Virigosa stalked him; when he had oh-so-foolishly dropped his guard, she struck. She shredded his wings, ran her talons deep into his soft, vulnerable stomach, and let him beg for a death that would come all too slowly. It had been long since she had done that, and the memory haunted her.

She escaped into the sky, into the flock of twisted dragons that circled around the camp like ravens. One dove to attack her, but he was loud and clumsy, and she was able to dodge. Virigosa's flight maneuvers were strange and clumsy from lack of practice, but still, the twilight dragons could not catch her. They were new to this, she realized; they may have had practice, seeing how they dealt with the green dragons, but these dragons had never killed before. This was the first time they had tasted combat, and the first time they'd felt the desperation of fighting with their life on the line.

Over time, Virigosa could hear only the beating of her own wings, and the twilight dragons were gone. Her flight led her to the World Tree; by the time of her arrival, Virigosa was too exhausted to speak, and skidded into the ground when it came time to land. Immediately, her arrival caused chaos, as the Guardians of Hyjal scrambled to find out what was wrong. When Virigosa did not answer their questions, a green wyrm was sent out to speak to her.

"From where do you come, drake?" The wyrm asked, this time speaking Draconic.

"Mishzile." Virigosa said weakly, her voice raspy, before repeating in Common, "Water."

It was a long time before they could find something to bring it in, but through the work of some shaman, they found some water to give to the drake. She drank deeply and for a long time as the green wyrm waited patiently.

"I do apologize, it has been a long flight." The words took more out of her than she thought, and she moved to drink more of the water. "I come from a camp near the Shrine of Aessina."

The green wyrm nodded. "What is your name? What happened there?"

"I am Virigosa," Virigosa answered. "The Twilight's Hammer descended upon our camp, mounted upon terrible dragons. They breathed shadowfire that destroyed the camp, and tore apart green drakes and Kaldorei alike... I believe a few mortals may have escaped, but I knew all of the drakes there and all were dead except I."

The wyrm listened attentively, but did not comment on any of this information. She beckoned a night elf to her and whispered something to them, before once again turning her attention to the blue drake. "Do you have any injuries but the shoulder?"

While she was fleeing, one of the smaller drakes had put a nasty gash on Virigosa's shoulder; she felt a strange pressure on it as the wyrm spoke, and noticed a druid working some magic on it. "I don't believe so, but I haven't looked." The blue answered.

The wyrm thanked Virigosa for her time and returned to one of the main buildings in Nordrassl while the healer tended to the drake. She laid there, too tired to bother moving, until sleep overcame her and she was moved to an area on the outskirts of Nordrassil's village.


	3. On Twilight Wings

When they awakened, Araxion and his clutchmates were split into five groups. Their group would determine the dragons they saw regularly, who they trained with, and who their commander was. The reasoning wasn't explained in much detail: they wanted to be able to compare the most effective broods, methods of creation, and commanders, something like that. It was of no consequence regardless.

The process itself was something like a draft. Each commander had a separate part of the room, and they each picked a dragon for their group in a predetermined order. There were six commanders total: the blacks Haresion, Esteria, and Barelion, and the twilights Irixiona, Nasciona, and Karesion. Irixiona and Nasciona were the two twilight drakes whom Araxion had seen when he hatched, and they commanded a group together. Karesion was to pick first, and he chose a female drake named Voriona.

Esteria took a moment to glance at a select few dragons, before making her selection. "Araxion," she announced.

He walked towards her, nervous, as the other dragons bantered from their perches above. "Come on, Esteria, you know we wanted him. Right before our turn too? I swear you do this just to spite us," Irixiona said.

Esteria purred with amusement, flicking her tail in response. "You know I wouldn't pick something I didn't like, dear."

The rest of the process went much like this, and Araxion ultimately ended up with one other sibling from his clutch. Esteria introduced them to the rest of their group, composed of eighteen other dragons from various backgrounds. All of the others had been corrupted from eggs of other flights: around five were from the Blue Dragonflight, and there was one dragon from each the Bronze and Green Dragonflights, but most had come from red eggs. One could tell in young dragons because of the slight tinting of their scales, although it required one to know what they were looking for.

Araxion could no longer feel the strange cold feeling with such intensity, because it was often difficult to tell if it was coming from himself or from another dragon around him. One of the other dragons stuck out to him, however, because the feeling about her was especially intense. Her aura didn't cause any sort of numbness or discomfort, like the feeling had when Araxion was in the egg, but it was different from the others. Her name was Sariona, and she was the dragon that had come from a bronze egg.

His first interaction with her came quickly. Esteria had tasked the drakes with their first combat practice: simple ground content, using only their talons, with special covers put over them so they couldn't actually tear flesh. All the drakes put them on, and Esteria read the combat pairings out from a list.

"First pair: Araxion and Sariona, second pair: Fyriona and Tasarion, third pair..." Esteria announced.

Both Araxion and Sariona moved quickly into the middle of the group of dragons, and watched Esteria expectantly. The black dragon looked somewhat annoyed, but Sariona opted to risk her wrath regardless. "How do we do it?" she asked.

"However you want," Esteria answered. "You'll figure it out."

For a moment, Araxion and Sariona moved around each other nervously, neither wanting to make the first move. It was Sariona who finally attacked first, flaring up her wings and lunging forward towards Araxion. Araxion moved to dodge, but her talons landed on one of his shoulders. In response, he took to the sky more by instinct than conscious choice, allowing himself to drop behind her. He clawed at her wings, taking care to avoid her tail. She yelped, attempting to smack him with the mace-like end of her tail, but he was too far away.

Sariona took to the air, and Araxion followed her. They locked talons, each dragon attempting to get at the wings, belly, and other vital parts of each other. Araxion let his grasp lax for a moment, and Sariona immediately moved as far in as she could in an attempt to break what remained of his defenses. In response, Araxion kicked at her with his hind legs and pushed back with his wings: being unprepared for that movie, Sariona went crashing to the ground.

"Juvenile," Esteria commented, "But decent. Next up, Fyriona and Tasarion."

After this, Sariona and Araxion became quick friends. When picking their partners was an option, regardless of whether it was fighting practice or when they were learning Common, Sariona and Araxion made sure that they were together. They grew to become Esteria's favorites, and she often began to pair them together regardless. The cold feeling from Sariona never changed, and never wavered in intensity, but Araxion stopped thinking about it, and after time, stopped noticing it.

Their dedication to practice continued beyond the exercises that they did during the day, too. During several nights, Araxion and Sariona snuck out into the open space between their resting areas, both to talk and to practice.

"You're good at feinting, Araxion," Sariona commented. "I can never figure out how to do that without actually making that mistake, though. Y'know, losing my guard."

"It's hard to explain," Araxion replied. "You just sort of... You know how to brace yourself for the start of a fight?"

"Yes," Said Sariona, "And I get that it's similar, but I can never figure out how to make it look like I'm not-"

"What are you two doing up?" Esteria's voice echoed through the hall, and the two drakes froze where they were. The black wyrm flicked her tail with amusement, emerging from the shadows where she had been watching. "You should always check to make sure you aren't being watched before you do something you're not supposed to, you know."

"You don't appear to be disciplining us for it," Sariona noted.

Araxion shot Sariona a look, fearing Esteria's reaction. Instead of becoming enraged, the black dragon purred with amusement. "You two work fine with little sleep, and you're not too far out of line. You're doing something productive, even," she said. "If either of you were Tasarion, though... The Master knows he can't afford to be up late like this."

"Tasarion doesn't really seem to know what he's doing, either," Araxion added. "Maybe it's that Red Dragonflight blood getting to him."

Both Esteria and Araxion chuckled for a moment, while Sariona sat back, curling her tail around her feet. Esteria moved to walk away, saying, "You know, I like you two. Your attitude, Sariona, and yours too, Araxion... Ah, you remind me of myself as a drake."

A few weeks later, the young drakes were subject to their first real trials. For a few months, they'd been practicing attacks on only each other and the cultists. Esteria, however, wanted to send her small group out on a mission to attack a caravan just outside of the Twilight Highlands. They were nobody of particular importance, just a peculiar mish-mash of merchants and society's outcasts, and it was of no consequence to anyone whether they lived or died. What mattered, however, was that they were real people that would not simply stand and let themselves get killed by a group of young drakes. Not willingly, anyways.

The group of twilights found a small sheltered outcropping of rock along the border of the Twilight Highlands and the Arathi Highlands, with a clear view of the caravan. Esteria, being to big to watch unseen, shapeshifted into a humanoid form, and sat on a drake's back. Her voice was quieter in her human form, and she had to yell to be heard.

"Alright, I'm not expecting all of you to go down there and attack the caravan. Indeed, I'd rather you not, as it'd be rather conspicuous if eighteen twilight drakes decide to go burn down a caravan all at once," Esteria explained. "But I would like any of you that do not assist in the attack to watch closely and learn from your fellow drakes. I want this to be a learning experience for all of us."

Esteria sat back and waited, while the drakes watched and talked amongst themselves. Araxion slipped over to Sariona, whispering to her, "Would you like to kick this thing off?"

"Sounds like a plan," she replied. "You get the front of the caravan, I get the back. Let's trap them. If there's any problems, fly up. It doesn't look like it, but we don't know if they have weapons or anything."

At once, both Araxion and Sariona lifted off from the ground, diving towards both ends of the caravan. The drakes were too small to shake the ground by landing, so they wasted no time in setting the wagons aflame, spewing shadowfire across the area. It swiftly spread across the structures, sending the caravan's occupants running. Other drakes came down from the outcropping to catch the fleeing mortals, and Araxion joined them. Sariona opted to finish the job, ensuring that every wagon was completely engulfed in flame. Araxion swooped down and landed in front of one of the merchants, an elf decked out in gaudy clothing.

The merchant screamed as the dragons approached, cursing them and speaking of his wife and children. His efforts, ultimately, were futile from the start.

"The Destroyer knows no mercy," Araxion answered.

The dragon took a step forward towards the elf, and he turned to run the other way. Araxion moved his right foreleg forwards, hooking the elf's body on it. He slammed the elf into the ground, leaving the body to bleed out onto the grass.

Araxion caught a few more mortals, too, but not in quite as dramatic a fashion. He and the rest of his group returned to the outcropping, where Esteria had once again taken on her true, draconic form. She was pleased, as was evident from the tone of her voice and the position of her tail. "Brilliant," she said. "Once again, still quite juvenile, but brilliant for a first time."

After the attack on the caravan, the drakes' sleep schedule switched. There was less time to rest and relax, and more time spent on intense training. Sariona and Araxion excelled together, and moved far beyond the rest of their group when it came to skill. Both were capable of lasting long in a fight against each other, and when Esteria tested them against other dragons, Sariona and Araxion could defeat them with only minor difficulty. Eventually, Esteria approached them with an offer.

"I'd like you two to go with a group of older drakes to test your skills against a real challenge," she said. "You know the Vermillion Redoubt is in the area, yes? The wyrms in the area often need to be healed by their red dragonspawn. When they land, we send in a team of wyrmkillers to attack them. I'd like you to try to assist one of these teams; just watch if you must, but go with them, won't you?"

The older drakes were slightly intimidating; they were perhaps around half as large as Araxion and Sariona, and it was obvious that they had seen battle. The older drakes were covered in scars from swords, claws, and all manner of things. One was missing an eye, and many had parts of their wings torn off around the edges. A few of the drakes were more welcoming than others, but both Araxion and Sariona heard a few mocking whispers. Most appreciated the help, and both of the younger drakes were eager to face red dragons for the first time.

The attacks began at noon, when the first wyrms returned to the Vermillion Redoubt to heal. The wyrmkillers moved in swiftly, descending upon a fallen red wyrm like vultures upon a corpse. They tore the poor old dragon apart, to the horror of the nearby drakes. When most of the job was done, a few drakes went after the dragonspawn, chasing them around the area as a cat would to a mouse. Such games would not go on for very long; it was early, however, and there were not many red wyrms landing yet. There was time to play until the real challenge began.

"They look like they'd be delicious," Sariona commented, watching from a distance as an elder drake slew one of the red dragonspawn.

"They're dragonkin too, though, they'd be too similar to us," Araxion replied. "It'd be... Strange to eat them. Especially because there are twilight dragonspawn, too: haven't you see them?"

Sariona was dismissive. "I don't really see much of a problem," she said. "It may be a bit odd, but I'd much like to try red dragon someday too. Look at all the meat they have on their bones! It's not anyone's loss if one dies anyways."

The Redoubt began to get busier as the red dragons moved in and out, and the twilight drakes had more work to do. Although the wyrmkillers first worked together, they slowly began splitting up into smaller and smaller groups to cover more ground. It was with one of these smaller groups that Araxion and Sariona witnessed their first deaths: three older drakes had been harassing a red wyrm that appeared to be too injured to fight back. In a swift, unexpected movement, however, the wyrm spewed a stream of flame onto the three drakes. They attempted to escape, but the wyrm lunged forward, trapping them under her massive talons. There was no way they could have survived. It chilled both Araxion and Sariona, but it did not make them afraid: this was what they were born to do. No red dragon was going to stop them.

A smaller wyrm landed on the outskirts of the Vermillion Redoubt, and both Araxion and Sariona noticed it quickly. Wordlessly, they moved to strike at the dragon together, with Sariona landing near the head and Araxion taking a position along the side.

"Insolent young drakes," the wyrm spat, "You know not what you do." He was silenced by a strike to the eye, courtesy of Sariona.

The two drakes made quick work of him, tearing away at the webbing at his wings and the softer, weaker skin at his belly. Normally, they would have been able to simply leave him to bleed out; this was a red dragon, however, and he would be healed by the dragonspawn. For some time, Araxion and Sariona guarded their kill from the dragonspawn that sought to heal him. Eventually, the wyrm took his last breath and was no more.

One of the eldest drakes, the one with the single eye, flew over to meet the younger drakes. "We need to be going," he said. "We've lost too many and we've done enough."

The rest of the twilights had already begun to flee, so Araxion and Sariona followed suit. They returned to the part of the compound where their group was, and joined them just as they were finishing up the day's training session. Esteria moved to meet them as the rest of the drakes returned to their sleeping areas.

"How did it go?" she asked.

"Fairly well, all considered," Sariona replied. "Araxion and I took down a red dragon, just the two of us. I feel we learned a lot, it was more valuable than these trainings we've had day-after-day."

"I thought it would be, especially because of how well you two have taken the initiative in our earlier practice sessions," Esteria said. "I'm going to check with Feresion, and if all goes well, I expect that you two will be doing more of this. I'm proud of you two, you know. I hope I can see you out on the battlefield soon, giving those 'defenders of Azeroth' what they deserve."

Araxion and Sariona slept well that night, having gone to sleep early. The day's work had been exhausting, and they were glad for the brief period of respite. Esteria crept into their caverns early in the morning to awake them, and had the two drakes come together with her to speak. She seemed strangely excited, both from her body language and the tone of her voice.

"I spoke with the lead wyrmkiller and a few of my own superiors," she said. "I've set you two up to go to Mount Hyjal as apart of the next group of twilight dragons. It won't be particularly challenging over there: the green drakes are more a challenge to the mortals than anything, and the druids can't do much to you. It'll be good practice in a real-life combat scenario."

Both Araxion and Sariona took a moment to process the news, and it was Araxion that spoke first. "We'd be honored. Thank you, Esteria, for everything. We'll make you proud."


	4. Visits to Nordrassil

When Virigosa came to, she was in a large tent with grass under her talons. Judging from the scratches on the ground, from both dragon claws and a dragon's tail, she had been dragged into the tent by a green dragon some time ago. She looked over herself closely, paying special attention to her shoulder. The flesh had already knitted itself back together, likely by virtue of the druid's magic, but the scales would take time to grow back. _It'll probably scar,_ she thought to herself, _my scales just molted a few months ago._

The petty things aside, she was fine. Virigosa's main problem had been fatigue, and the long rest had solved that. Satisfied, she shapeshifted into her mortal form, and walked out of the tent. Nobody paid any particular attention to her: Virigosa's preferred form was that of a night elf, and although her clothing was entirely blue, she could pass for one of the Highborne without much trouble. The people around Nordrassil were busy regardless, and Virigosa had no business with them.

She walked from building to building, looking for anybody familiar. A pair of green drakes were chatting between two buildings, and Virigosa stopped to speak with them. "I'm looking for a green wyrm who spoke to me yesterday; I don't know her name, but she came from the main building. Do you know where she could be?"

The drakes stopped and stared at her for a moment. "You're the blue drake that came here yesterday, yeah?" one asked. "Quite the entrance."

"Yes." she answered.

"You're looking for Nalasra, then. She should be just over there," the drake pointed with their tail. "Beyond that shop. She's in her dragon form, you can't miss her."

Virigosa shapeshifted into her draconic form, and quickly found Nalasra. The wyrm was speaking to an armored night elf, and paused after a moment to acknowledge the blue drake. "Ah, Virigosa. What is it you need?"

"I was wondering if you needed anything done," Virigosa replied. "I no longer have an assigned post, and I figure my services could still be needed here."

"I'll keep that in mind, but I can't think of anything that has to be done now," Nalasra said. "But there was somebody who saw you yesterday when you arrived. A blue drake, I don't remember his name. He said he knew you."

Virigosa froze, and said with concern, "Where was he?"

"Last I saw, he had a tent just at the main exit to the city," Nalasra answered.

He was where Nalasra had said, but Virigosa did not recognize him at first. When she arrived at the tent, he was in the form of a blond high elf dressed in an indigo robe. Virigosa waited for a long time at the entrance to the tent as he sifted through a pile of papers, and his face reddened when he noticed her. He moved back from the desk and shapeshifted into the form of a familiar blue drake. Recognizing him, Virigosa invited herself into the tent, sitting on a side opposite from that of her old friend.

"Eryigos," she greeted him. "It's been a while. What are all the papers for?"

It was nice to see somebody familiar. Perhaps Virigosa and Eryigos had not known each other under the best of circumstances- they had been assigned to a few of the same posts in the Borean Tundra and the Dragonblight during the Nexus War- but a friend was a friend, after all. Virigosa had spoken to him during the war more than any other dragon, and it was comforting to see that she would be able to talk to him during this war, too.

"They're... They're for the dragons back home." Eryigos answered. "I'm here on Mount Hyjal on orders of Arygos himself. He wants me to make reports for him."

"Ah, Arygos. The son of Malygos himself, isn't he?" Virigosa said. "That reminds me, the Blue Dragonflight seeks to elect a new Aspect soon. The Embrace fast approaches. I take it you support Arygos, then?"

"Indeed, and you?" Eryigos replied.

"I don't really _like_ anybody, per se," Virigosa answered. "I definitely don't like Kalecgos, with all the idiotic moves he's made in the past. I have a bad feeling about Arygos too, though, he seems... Slimy, somehow. I can't say I really care who gets the position; I mean, I care about who our Aspect is, but I don't think it'd make much of a difference whether one or the other becomes the Aspect."

Eryigos nodded in acknowledgement, and walked out of the tent, gesturing with his tell for Virigosa to follow. They walked out of the tent together, and Eryigos beat his wings a few times in quick succession to lift off from the ground. Virigosa followed him, and together they ascended into the clouds. Just west of Nordrassil, they dove and surveyed the ground below them. There was a river, perhaps once beautiful, but now clogged with dirt and ashes. Faintly glowing embers and abandoned weapons and armor indicated that this was a recently-abandoned battleground.

"It's a waste, really," Virigosa spat, hovering just over the treetops.

"It's all too familiar, isn't it?" Eryigos said. "I remember a sight like this in the Dragonblight, where instead of fire, it was our own residual magic covering the ground."

"I remember it all over, in Crystalsong Forest especially," Virigosa added. "War is a funny thing. I feel that even when I haven't been participating in it, I've lived my entire life in its shadow. I mean, how many of us blue dragons are left? Two thousand? Two thousand and a half? If there were more of us, my life would be so much different."

"There's a kind of beauty to it though, isn't there?" Eryigos noted. "You feel it, don't you? Isn't there some part of you that just wants to watch the world burn?"

"Maybe to the Black Dragonflight and to the Twilight's Hammer, but not me," Virigosa answered.

And she knew it was a lie.

The two drakes surveyed the abandoned battlefield in relative silence, before heading off to elsewhere in Mount Hyjal. The otherwise happy reunion had taken on a dark overtone, and the blue dragons did not speak much until they began to return to Nordrassil. They stopped a fair distance from the World Tree, and took a moment to marvel at its impressive, looming form in the distance.

"It's nice seeing you again, you know," Eryigos said.

"You as well," Virigosa replied. "I've been so lonely here in Hyjal. The red and even the green drakes are a bit scared of me, you know. They'd never admit it, but they don't have to. I can see it in their eyes, I can feel it."

Eryigos cast her a look of amusement. "Do they even know what you've done?" he asked. "They don't know whether or not you killed dragons, or even fought for Malygos in the Nexus War at all."

"I don't think it's very hard to guess," she said. "I have the scars to prove I was involved, you know, and it's fairly obvious that those scars are from dragon talons. Maybe there's something about the way I carry myself, too. Most other drakes will move back a bit or at least show a bit of submission to adult dragons or to wyrms. I don't."

"Does it bother you?" he asked.

"They're not wrong," she answered.

The sky was beginning to darken, although one could always see light just on the horizon from elsewhere in Hyjal. The fires never stopped, so it seemed. no matter how many they put out or how many cultists and elementals were put down. Eyrigos and Virigosa bid each other farewell, and Eyrigos went back to his tent for the night. Virigosa, having nowhere to go, decided to wander the streets of the village. The activity never seemed to slow; even as the sun set, people were running around from place to place with supplies. It was night elven territory, though, so perhaps that had something to do with it.

Few people payed Virigosa any attention, busy with their own tasks. Her vibrant scales stuck out like a sore thumb, but she had nothing to do and nowhere to go. She passed by the main building at the base of the world tree, and paused for a moment to marvel at the pool of water below. Suddenly, there was a soft voice hissing at her from the door, "Virigosa!"

She turned around, only to see a night elven woman standing at the door, adorned in a lovely druidic robe. "It's Nalasra," she said. "I'd like to talk to you. Could you come inside?"

Virigosa followed, and in her elven form, took a seat in a chair at a table. Nordrassil's main building had many rooms, and Nalasra locked this door behind her. "You have no assignment here now, do you?" the green wyrm asked. "Nothing from the Blue Dragonflight?"

"My only instructions from my flight are to assist here however possible," Virigosa answered.

"In that case," Nalasra continued, "I was wondering if you could help a few of my drakes secure this area for a special guest. We have somebody of vital importance arriving here at Hyjal within two days, and I feel your magical expertise will be vital to her protection. Would you be able to help us?"

"Of course," Virigosa answered. "I'd be glad to. Who is she?"

"If you could keep it quiet," Nalasra said, "It's Alexstrasza, the Dragonqueen. We fear that the Twilight's Hammer may make plans to threaten her should they know of her arrival. And as unfortunate as it is, we know that they have informants within our very ranks. We can't afford for them to find out because of simple carelessness."

"Of course, it would be my honor," Virigosa replied. "Whatever you need."


	5. Life or Loss

The move to Nordrassil was swift, swifter and more sudden than Araxion could've imagined. Within a matter of days, he and Sariona were moved through Blackrock Caverns to Mount Hyjal with a group of other twilight drakes, every one older than they were. They settled into a camp at Mount Hyjal swiftly and without difficulty; while the Twilight cultists were trained at specialized camps on Hyjal itself, the drakes were already combat-ready on arrival. Acclimation to their surroundings came quickly and easily.

Sariona swiftly befriended many of the other drakes in the camp, while Araxion preferred to keep to himself. Sariona made an especially close friend in another twilight dragoness by the name of Kasiona, and Araxion found that Sariona sometimes left him alone in favor of spending time with her new friend. He couldn't fathom how they managed to fill all that time, but it really did not bother him much. Sariona was a good friend, and she still spoke to him frequently. Besides, everyone was allowed to have other friends, after all.

But as time passed and the drakes became familiar with the landscape of Mount Hyjal, the easy days ended and they had to work. A few drakes, mostly the stupidest of them, were assigned to the Twilight's Hammer as mounts for the cultists. The rest were sent on their first real task: a village that served as a stronghold for a group of night elves was standing in the way of the Twilight's Hammer. It needed to be destroyed, and the most effective method of destruction was, of course, dragonfire. At news of the assignment, the camp buzzed with an excited nervousness, some eagerly anticipating the conflict, others dreading it.

The village was situated in a narrow pass, a strategic location that blocked the cultists' passage. The dragons arrived on one side of the pass shortly after nightfall, joined by a few elemental summoners. Sariona once again joined Araxion in preparation for combat. There was an anxious murmur throughout the group of dragons, and the time before the attack seemed to stretch on forever.

"Are you nervous?" Araxion asked, turning to Sariona.

"Hardly," she answered. "You?"

He was dismissive, flicking his tail and turning to face the village. "This is what we were born to do."

The order to attack came from the cultist in charge of the operation. He watched from the sky, mounted upon one of the drakes, before descending to issue the orders. "The moment is now- it's time."

The flock of drakes descended upon the village within minutes, blotting out the stars with their wings and filling the sky with dark, unnatural smoke. The kaldorei defenders had known of the drakes' coming, from the long watcher in the sky, but they had not anticipated the numbers. There was no need for the drakes to target individuals; the fire and the elementals did that job for them. The battle was swift, and the wood gave off a peculiar scent as it burned in the dragons' wake.

The battle, however, was not without casualties. It was not a pyrrhic victory by any stretch of the imagination, but a few dragons had arrows through their wings. One had a bolt of ice caught in their shoulder, the lone attack that the village mage had managed to land. Their mission was undeniably successful, and back at the camp, they celebrated with a fresh shipment of rations. In the midst of the festivities, Araxion sought out Sariona. He found her joking and playing with Kasiona, away from the rest of the drakes.

"A pleasure for you to join us," Sariona commented.

"I didn't know where you were, I was searching for you," Araxion said. "You look like you're having a grand old time over here. Are you just trying to avoid me or something?"

"You wish," she replied.

"Na-ah," he said, defensive. "I was just teasing you."

"Sure you were," she said. "Come on, Araxion, I know you."

Kasiona was a beautiful young drake, well put-together and graceful in the area. She had come first from a blue egg, and it was obvious: the pattern on her wings was vibrant and natural-looking, an unusual feature among twilight drakes. Araxion found himself watching her at times, and he grew to admire her in a way. Somehow, he was envious of how easily she moved, how impressive she was as she moved. For a while, Araxion had a strange fascination with her.

After those first few easy missions, where the only combatants were mortals, the twilights' numbers slowly began to diminish. With success against the night elves, individual drakes or small groups were sent out to combat the Green Dragonflight where they dominated the area. It was those battles that were the most deadly, where any fall was almost certainly deadly and the most vulnerable parts of a dragon's body were exposed.

It was these missions where Araxion and Sariona's abilities truly shined. They were smaller than most of their comarades, but their natural talent was exceptional. It took a while to receive their first serious injuries: a nasty gash along Araxion's chest, and a sizable chunk taken out of Sariona's wing. With the help of the cultists, it healed quickly, but each wound would leave a scar. The battles would forever mark them.

While Araxion and Sariona waited in the camp for the wounds to heal, Kasiona was concerned. She had her own missions, sure, but when she had time, she'd stop by and ask the two drakes what they needed. She was helpful, and a pleasure to talk to.

"I swear, you're always here, Kasiona," Araxion remarked.

Kasiona chortled, turning to Sariona. "Sometimes I wonder what you see in him," She said.

Sariona shook her head. "Sometimes I do too."

Araxion signed. "Sometimes I don't get either of you."

Kasiona was soon assigned to a secretive mission along with two other drakes, and they were scheduled to be gone for a couple of days. During that time, Araxion and Sariona once again took to the skies, and were sent back to the front as soon as possible. Their days were not pleasant, but they both fared better than most of the other drakes. Every day, their numbers dwindled ever more, and almost every drake had lost a friend. Some slowly fell further and further into fear; many began seeing death as the rule rather than the exception, and the question was more of who would die next rather than whether someone would die.

Eventually, Araxion was called in alone to the command tent, from which the entire camp received their orders. A cultist in the tent sat at the table, papers spread across his desk, as Araxion carefully fit himself inside. The curtain was closed behind them, and the cultist leafed through a few papers. Finally, he pulled a paper out and laid it flat on the table. The drake leaned forward to look at it, but he could not understand anything; none of the twilight drakes had been taught to read.

"You've been selected for a special mission, I suppose you could say," the cultist said. "I'm sure you're aware of the fact that we have spies everywhere. We have data on everywhere our enemies are, everything they're doing, yes?"

"Yes," Araxion answered.

"We have an informant of particular importance to our operation," he continued. "A blue dragon, he's been on Nordrassil gathering information for us. He's going to be bringing reports to us that contain invaluable information. But he can't go far from the camp, and that's where you come in. We need you to meet with him, get the information, and come back. Simple. Do you think you can handle it?" The question was more sarcastic than anything.

Araxion hesitated for a moment, unsure of whether to reply in kind or answer seriously. "I assure you, there should be no problem," he promised.

"Good," the cultist replied. "You're dismissed."

Araxion exited the tent and made his way over to the flimsy wooden structure that he and Sariona shared as a sleeping area. She looked up to watch him approach, and he laid down beside her to talk. "It's been a long day," he said.

"No fighting though, at least," she said, with a yawn. "You know, it's strange. We used to have so much time to talk, to play. Now it's all business, all day. It's so... Stressful. Depressing. Esteria almost made it sound like it was going to be fun."

"You handle it so well, though," Araxion replied. "I don't know how you do it."

"I suppose I do," she said. "It's crazy to see how so many of the others just... crumble under the pressure. They're so afraid, so nervous. And I mean, you can die out here, but they just let the fear consume them. When you're afraid like that, you make mistakes. And when you make mistakes, that's when things go wrong."

"It's strange," he said, "But I guess fighting just does that to people. It just seems so... counterproductive."

"Life is strange," Sariona said.

Araxion crept out of the shade and laid down, spreading out his wings to bask in the sunlight before it faded away. Sariona remained inside, trying to take advantage of whatever chance she had to rest. It was odd, resting in the middle of what they knew was a warzone, but they were offered no choice in the matter. And in fact, everywhere they'd ever slept had been in the middle of a warzone, Araxion realized.

Eventually, he heard the sound of a dragon approaching, and he glanced up. It was a drake that was relatively new to the camp, having come from elsewhere in Hyjal. "Is Sariona here?" He asked.

She lifted up her head inside, while Araxion rolled over and stood up to face the newcomer. "Yes, she is," he answered. "What do you need?"

The newcomer moved closer to the wooden structure, while Soriona moved to the entrance. "Kasiona is dead," he said.

Soriona moved back in surprise, before relaxing herself and moving forward to converse with the other drake. "No, she's not," she answered. "She's on a mission somewhere else in Hyjal."

"I was too," the other drake said. "She's dead. I saw it myself. Just... torn apart. She was hardly recognizable, there was nothing to bring back."

Soriona did not answer, but Araxion looked at the newcomer with horror. "What happened?"

"We were in hiding, invisible. We had a charm from some mage that went twilight, you know," he explained. "And this other drake comes along, sees right through it... she was done, just absolutely ripped apart. I'd never seen anything like it."

There was a moment of silence, then some strange, unfamiliar sound from within the wooden structure. Sariona's silhouette vanished from the entrance, while the two other drakes looked on in surprise. The newcomer backed away slowly, calling, "I just... I just though you should know, since you were were so close..."

"Go," Sariona's voice was strange, distant. "Just go."

The newcomer was happy to oblige, taking to the sky as quickly as he could. Araxion crept inside, seeing Sariona's dark shape huddled in a corner. "Sariona... Sariona, are you okay?" There was no answer.

Slowly, Araxion crept closer and draped one of his wings over her. "It's fine, Sariona, it's going to be fine..."


	6. Death or Destiny

The day of Alexstrasza's arrival was a busy, chaotic time.

The day before had been simple enough; the green drakes did not want Virigosa's help, and she simply watched them go about their work for a long while. That night and day was the calm before the storm. The next morning was chaotic- over and over, Virigosa was asked to check the perimeter to see if anybody had cast any suspicious spells or left strange runes. _They shouldn't have waited until the last minute,_ Virigosa gripped to herself, scratching at the dirt to investigate a strange object. It was just a few beads, nothing of particular importance.

She finished her patrol around the outside of Nordrassil, returning to the building that served as the base of operations. "Anything to report yet, Virigosa?" A green drake called, hovering in front of the building just above the ground.

Virigosa flicked her tail in annoyance. "Well, let's see," she replied. "The birds are a bit afraid of me, maybe that's a bit of a cause for concern? Oh, and I found some toys that elven children left laying around, shall I check to ensure that they aren't cursed?"

"Alright, alright, I get it," the green drake said. "If it's all fine, then, come inside the command center and we'll send you out again when Alexstrasza arrives."

Virigosa hesitated for a moment, unsure if she'd like to spend time with the greens. "I'll wait, I'll keep watch. You can go play inside with your little green dragon friends while I do the real work. Just leave me alone. Yes?"

The green drake was silent for a while after, a grimace on her face. "Alright then, Virigosa," the drake said. "You do whatever makes you happy."

Virigosa was left alone, and she scrambled up on a rock on the border of the city, alone. Her memories of the Nexus War flashed before her eyes. First, she remembered the hopelessness, her inexperience and ineptitude and so much pain. Then, she remembered her time as she gained experience, the strength she had, the power she had over red drakes. She remembered the bloodshed, the feeling of her claws slicing through wing and scale and muscle, eventually meeting bone.

She remembered seeing her own reflection in snow that had been melted by a red drake's breath. She had blood all over her maw and talons, red scales under her claws. That drake in the reflection, Virigosa had wondered, was she beautiful or was she a monster?

Then, she recalled the end of the war. Defeat was so bitter, her aspect dead and her flight even closer to extinction than before. No matter how hard she alone had fought, no matter how much she had sacrificed for victory, a single drake could not change the tide of the war. She was nothing, useless, a bitter loser of the war that she had so badly needed to win. And there was nothing she could do about it.

Bitterness could only go so far. Now was another war, and this one she was determined to win. This one she _could_ win.

Her thoughts were not quite clear when she spotted a sudden glimmer, a sudden spark of magic. Alarms went off in her mind, and almost on instinct, she breathed in an exhaled a torrent of frost, blanketing the area for a moment in brilliant white crystals. The glimmer came again, and this time the source was obvious: three twilight drakes were stunned by Virigosa's ability to detect them, frozen for a moment before a the drake in front let out a defiant hiss, shifting into a battle stance.

That drake's mistake was her last. Virigosa leapt from the rock, propelled by her wings, digging her claws into the drake from above. The twilight crumpled to the ground under the weight of the blue, who was most pleased by this. Virigosa rolled the twilight over onto her back, claws tearing away at the wings, and leaned her head down to bite into the twilight's throat. The drake's life was over, and Virigosa turned her head to the other two drakes, who were torn between running and readying themselves to fight.

Virigosa watched them for a moment, silently, and turned to continue tearing away at the twilight's soon-to-be lifeless body. The other two drakes could hardly believe their luck, and flew off into the sky to watch their fallen comrade from afar.

To Virigosa, this twilight drake was the perfect target. A perfect opportunity to let out all that anger, to express Virigosa's frustration and confusion towards the world. Her black-blue hide was like a canvas, every slash an expression of the blue's feelings. Virigosa stopped for a moment, beholding her work, looking over the mutilated corpse expressionlessly.

Then, strangely, she wondered what this twilight dragon's name had been. It wasn't a merciful thought, Virigosa was not trying to attach any relatable feelings to this monster, but a mere curiosity. Did she love anyone? Did she have anyone who ever loved her? No, of course not; twilight dragons could not love. Twilight dragons felt no emotions, had no thoughts. Could they even speak? Probably not.

But still, had someone ever taken the time to name this drake? Had anyone actually ever cared enough to acknowledge that this drake existed, even if they were just a pawn, just a puppet of Deathwing? And, come to think of it, the other two drakes had fled, as if they were afraid. Briefly, the blue recalled a memory of her and Eryigos in desperate flight; she pushed it away to the back of her mind, where it couldn't bother her anymore.

First, it occurred to Virigosa that she was not in her right mind. Next, she realized that these three lowly drakes could not possibly have been the only twilight forces sent to try and disrupt the Life-Binder's arrival.

Virigosa pushed off from the ground, taking to the skies and flying frantically back to the base of operations. She landed in front of the building, barging unceremoniously through the entrance

There were gasps. "Virigosa, you're covered in blood," someone said.

"There's been a breach!" she called. "The Twilight's Hammer is here to disrupt the arrival! Get out there, now!"

Virigosa was the first to take to the skies to search for more twilight forces. Drakes were swarming out of the building, starting to fan out and search for intruders. Suddenly, Virigosa could feel it. There were traces of twilight magic everywhere, emanating from somewhere that she couldn't quite pinpoint. Something was wrong, far more wrong than she ever realized. The blue drake suspended herself in air, looking frantically for the source of the disturbance.

Nalasra flew up beside her. "Virigosa, the Dragonqueen is set to arrive at any moment. Look, there's her guard," Sure enough, countless red dragons had come into view. "We can't have all our forces flying around in all directions like this. What exactly did you see?"

Alexstrasza's red form was visible over the treetops, massive and beautiful. Suddenly, it was clear. Suddenly, Virigosa saw exactly what she was looking for. She cast a glance at Nalasra, but only for a moment, and flew as quickly as she could away from the village. It was all on instinct, there was no conscious thought, no reason to her actions. Nobody else had seen what Virigosa had seen, not yet.

She put herself some distance away from the Dragonqueen, her back to the red aspect. Suddenly, they all saw what she had. "Look out!" someone screamed.

But it was too late; Virigosa knew what she must do. She hovered in air, spreading her wings, and the mass of shadow magic enveloped her. It began to consume her wings, burning like fire, worse than fire. She screamed, no longer able to hold herself in the air, spiraling downwards towards the ground once more. It was pain unlike anything she had ever experienced, and for the first time, she began to wonder why she had done that. _Alexstrasza is an aspect, she could have lived through that._ Then there was the unspoken thought, that Virigosa couldn't.

Her body hit the ground with a crunch, breaking inside as the magic ate away at her outside. She had one last, conscious thought: _Does the world have no mercy?_

Something enveloped her, something horribly hot, and she tried to let out a feeble scream as her eyes faded to darkness. There were words being exchanged- there were dragons talking- but their words were as gibberish to her. Then there was nothing but darkness, and eventually, silence.


	7. Two Traitors

Araxion landed in one of Hyjal's most isolated glades, and took a moment to marvel at it. The area was empty of people, and seemingly of animals; the only sounds were the wind blowing through the trees' leaves and the stream bubbling around the rocks. He took a moment to relish the relative silence, perhaps the only true quiet he had ever known. This was a little shard of paradise just on the outskirts of a war zone, one of the few places not tainted by violence and bloodshed. It was beautiful, but he felt out of place in it, seeing his black and blue scales juxtaposed against the pastel colors of nature.

The silence was soon broken by the sound of unfamiliar wingbeats, and another dragon had arrived. The familiar cold feeling returned to Araxion, and he first thought that it came from himself; perhaps he was afraid. The other dragon was blue, not twilight, and did not appear to be at all hostile. He stared for a long time at Araxion, his expression unreadable, his tail absolutely still.

"I take it you are the blue dragon I was told to meet," Araxion resigned himself to break the silence.

"That would depend," the blue answered. "Were you the one who was told to meet me?"

Araxion's mind struggled to make sense of the words for a few moments- it was a mind game, he realized. "That would be a yes," he said. "I just need the papers from you, nothing more."

"The papers, of course," the blue said. He glanced back at a satchel tied around his midsection and shoulders, in front of his wings. "But come on, I know it's no fun in those camps. And I have no fun socializing with those fools at Nordrassil. What's your name, twilight?"

Araxion hesitated for a moment, uncomfortable. It did not feel as though he should be talking to the blue drake, and something deep inside him was afraid of this other dragon. "I'm Araxion," he answered.

"My name is Eryigos," the blue drake replied. "You know, I did something like this myself as a drake. I had to get information from this dragon named Sirastrasza, said that she didn't think Alexstrasza was harsh enough with the mortals. She gave us a lot of valuable information, you know. We killed her a week later, when she decided that maybe she was wrong after all."

Araxion stared at Eyrigos for a long while, and blue dragon stopped pretending to fetch the papers. "Are you blueborn?" Eyrigos asked, "You look like it."

Araxion shook his head. "Black," he answered. "Why do you ask?"

"Again, you just look like it," Eyrigos replied. "Black then, huh? Sending their best to meet me?"

"I don't know," Araxion said. "I don't know if there was a particular reason why they sent me, except that I was there."

Eryigos chuckled, and Araxion could not quite tell what he was thinking. "You know, you remind me of myself back in the Nexus War," he said. "Surely there's something you'd like to know. Some pressing question you'd like to ask somebody from the other side."

"I... I don't think so," Araxion answered, puzzled.

"Are you so defined by the war that you see me as an enemy, nothing more?" Eryigos asked. "Don't you know curiosity? I know you don't trust me, but certainly you know that it would be a death sentence for me if I were to kill you, or even hurt you."

The twilight inched away slowly, hardly noticing his own movement. "I never said that I didn't trust you," he said.

"You don't have to tell me, I already know," the blue dragon answered. "Would they tell me to come to some isolated area of Hyjal, and meet a young drake if they trusted me? Would you be so afraid if you trusted me?"

"I'm not afraid," Araxion took a few steps closer, spreading his wings slightly in an effort to look more intimidating.

Eryigos laughed. "What you are," he said, "is a liar."

There was a moment of silence, and Araxion said, "If I'm so much like you were, than you were afraid once, too."

"So you have a bit of sense in you, don't you?" the blue noted. "During the Nexus War, when it began, I had no fear. I was Eryigos, a drake of the Blue Dragonflight, doing Malygos's work. Everything I did was justified, was for the greater good of Azeroth. No mortal or red dragon could harm me, because nothing could ever happen to _me_. As long as I did what was right, I could not get hurt, I could not die."

"But then I grew up," he said. "And I fought, and I saw my friends die. Do you remember Sirastrasza, the red wyrm I mentioned? She was so passionate about what she believed in. She was so confident that she was right- just like I was. I had a friend, named Virigosa. When Sirastrasza decided to betray us, and came to face us in battle, Virigosa destroyed her. I could hardly recognize her at the end of it all. We left her body to bleed out in the snow, we left her for the wolves. But her beliefs never changed; only the means that she thought was best to accomplish them. That was really the only difference between the sides in the Nexus War. But it opened my eyes."

"You aren't invincible," Araxion noted.

"Of course not," Eryigos answered. "And I learned this. At the same time, I did not let war define me."

"What do you mean?" The twilight drake asked.

"I still know my friend Virigosa," Eryigos said. "She still lives every day of her life in the shadow of the Nexus War. She sees it when she dreams, whenever she closes her eyes. Whenever she sees another dragon, she does not think of them based on who they are, she defines them by what side they would've fought on. It's a different war now, but she simply can't let go of the old one. You know, I prepared these papers in front of her. I gave her the flimsiest possible excuse I could. And she believed me, without question, because all she saw of me was her friend from the Nexus War."

Araxion was more confident now, more willing to converse with the blue dragon. "Yet you're not defined by that war at all," he noted. "In fact, you're on our side now. You've changed from it."

"I'm not sure I'd agree the way you phrased it," the blue dragon answered. "I'm more pragmatic, I suppose. I pick the battles that I can win. And my opinions from the Nexus War never really changed, not even my opinions on the means to achieve our ends. Do you wonder why I serve your side? Why I risk my life day in and day out to bring you information? It's because I see so many flaws with this world. Mortal use of magic run amok, corruption so deep in this world, the Burning Legion desperate to destroy us. It pains me, but I want to see this world burn. I want to see it put out of its misery. It's kinder than what we've been doing to it."

"And your friend, Virigosa, do you think she could be convinced to our side then?" Araxion asked. "If she woke up like you did, do you think that we could have her as an ally?"

Eryigos chuckled. "To be honest, I think she can't get over the war because a part of her, deep inside, liked it," he said. "There's a thrill to it, whenever she sees blood spilled. I don't think she can really handle it, she can't help herself. You know, there was a contingent of three twilight drakes dispatched to Nordrassil a few days ago for Alexstrasza's arrival. They had a little magic charm, that hid them from the mortals. I tried to make them something better, but _no_ , they told me not to worry. And guess what? Virigosa got just a taste of their magic, and she saw right through their illusion. The first twilight drake that she saw, she tore to bits, worse than she did to Sirastrasza. I think she was so quick to violence because she likes it, because she doesn't know what to do without it."

Araxion froze at the mention of the twilight drakes, and tilted his head with interest. "Do you remember the name?" he asked eagerly. "Was the drake named Kasiona?"

The blue drake looked curious, and nodded slowly. "Yes," he answered. "Why do you ask?"

"She was from the same camp as me," Araxion said. "She was a friend, and from what I remember, talented. Virigosa did that?"

"Indeed she did," the blue dragon replied. "But if it's revenge you want, you've already got some. Virigosa was almost killed later on that day, took an attack that was meant for Alexstrasza. Had the Dragonqueen not been right there, Virigosa would be dead. But you won't have to worry about her for a long while."

"That's good to know, at least." There was silence for a little while, a solemn sort of silence that neither Araxion nor Eryigos wanted to break.

Finally, Eyrigos slipped the satchel from his body and began to drape it over Araxion's neck. The blue dragon took a step back to inspect his handiwork, but Araxion interrupted him. "The longer you spend here, and the more you tell me, the more dangerous it is for you. So why? Why have you told me all of this? Why are you so eager to share your life story, to play these little mind games?"

"Because I, unlike my friend Virigosa, can see the writing on the wall." Eryigos answered.


	8. The Precipice

The line between life and death was fine and at times difficult to see. Virigosa, in her youth, had spent much time listening to her flight's elders. They had often pondered the nature of the world: to name a few, the nature of magic, of morality, and of death. Virigosa had not listened to many, yes, but a few she had taken to heart and began to ponder for herself. Death was one of those subjects that she occasionally wondered about, but she did not dare let her mind linger on it. It was a dark subject, and considering the nature of war, one that hit all too close to home.

Lost in that darkness, however, Virigosa found that she had much time to ponder. Was she truly dead? She didn't know. Pain shot through her with every movement she made, waning and intensifying periodically. Her state was unlike sleep in that she was fully awake, and could see her own body. Her forelegs as she moved them, her wings just on the edge of her vision; they were visible, as always. And all about her, there was a curious feeling of fatigue, as though every step was the last she would have the energy to take. Yet she could take a step after that, then another after, and she never became more or less tired.

She did not know how long she spent wandering that maddening darkness. It had a terrible, cold feeling to it, that seeped below her scales and clung to her bones, until she did not think she could take it for even another moment. Over time, the blue of her scales began to darken and fade into the blackness, until she could see them no longer. At times she wondered if she could truly feel herself, or if it was all a trick of the mind; perhaps instead of flesh and blood, pain and fatigue were all that she was ever made up of.

Eventually, she resigned herself to her miserable fate. She gave into the fatigue, letting her invisible body drop to the void that was the ground, and laid there. The pain came in cycles, waxing and waning, sometimes a dull ache and at times a pain that was so extreme, she could wish for nothing more than an end, nothing more than the respite of death. That was when she realized that she was not truly dead, not quite; death could not be so painful. She wouldn't let it.

And then, eventually, the pain faded to an ache and stayed that way. It was uncomfortable, yes, but far better than the agony she had been in. And soon, she was still exhausted but not quite so tired; she felt as though she could fly if she really needed to. The cold faded soon enough, being replaced by almost a sickly warmth. She was still confused, and still felt awful, but it was not quite so bad.

Then, she started to see herself again. Her legs, her wings, were visible once more, but the shade of blue was different somehow. She could not quite feel her body, but the legs and wings had to be hers; they moved on her command.

Finally, Virigosa decided to try and sleep. It seemed insane, perhaps, but maybe she'd be able to leave all the pain behind her for just a while. She laid on the ground, shutting her eyes and tucking her wings in close to her. It seemed to work; the blue's pain and fatigue seemed to subside, her thoughts quieted into silence, and the state was just like normal sleep.

Virigosa awoke to voices chattering away in Draconic. Her eyes opened slowly, as if they'd be stuck closed. Her first realization was that she was laying on a soft surface, similar to a bed, but large enough for a dragon. Her second realization was that almost her entire body was bound with bandages, preventing her from moving. Her legs, her tail, her wings; everything but her head was completely immobile.

A shadow fell over her bed, and a crimson wyrm looked over her. "Virigosa! You're awake! My name is Heristrasza." It was said with a cheeriness that the blue had not heard much from the Red Dragonflight. "You've been through a lot. How are you feeling?"

"I can't move," Virigosa said, trying to make small movements with her tail.

"The Dragonqueen herself dealt with most of your healing, she wanted to know when you awoke," Heristrasza informed her. "It was a big undertaking... So many of your bones were broken. She had to remake your scales and wings almost entirely from scratch, there was hardly anything left to work with. If the Aspect of Life hadn't been there, you'd be dead."

The drake turned to try and look at her wings, but her body was too covered. "Why would she do that?" she asked.

Heristrasza leaned over, beginning to undo some of Virigosa's tail bandages. "She admired your courage," the wyrm explained. "You were so willing to sacrifice yourself to save the Dragonqueen, for the sake of Azeroth... She could save you, so why shouldn't she?"

The last of the bandages came off, and Heristrasza neatly swept them off to the side. "Try not to move too quickly, your body's changed and it'll take some time to adjust," she warned, walking to the other side of the room to check on the other patient.

Virigosa shifted slowly onto her side, moving to finally behold herself. The Dragonqueen's healing was incredible; there were no scars, not even those from the Nexus War, and while the drake's muscles were still sore, she could feel that they were stronger than they had ever been.

However, her body was completely different. Her scales were still blue, and she was still a dragon, but she looked almost nothing like she had before. Her scales were a deep, bold shade of blue, as opposed to the far lighter color before. Her wing membranes were a lighter blue and partially transparent, and they were attached not just at the shoulders, like they had been, but the membrane was attached all the way down her tail. All of the runes that had once covered her body were gone, but that was to be expected; she could replace that. She could not see it, but had a strong feeling that her face looked completely different, too.

It was strange, but Virigosa felt a sadness for her old form. By the Blue Dragonflight's standards, she was more beautiful than she had been, and she could feel how much stronger she was. But this was not the form she was born with, and she felt a longing for her old scales, her old wings, her old body.

"I am different," Virigosa remarked, distant, as Heristrasza returned.

"Yes, but you're alive," Heristrasza answered. She dropped a piece of meat in front of the drake. "Eat now, dear. I sent a messenger to inform Alexstrasza that you're awake. She'll be down when there's a moment."

Virigosa ate slowly, unsure of how her stomach would feel. It was only after she began to eat that she realized how hungry she was; she must have been unconscious in that strange void for a number of days. Still, she did not ask for more, only eating again when Heristrasza offered another, much larger slab of meat.

Some time later, she heard footsteps descending down the stairs into the room. Virigosa could sense the presence immediately, and looked up. The Dragonqueen herself, Alexstrasza the Life-Binder, had entered into the room. She stood in her mortal form beside the drake's bed. "Virigosa, it's good to see you awake and well."

Virigosa started shifting in bed, attempting to get into a kneeling position, but Alexstrasza stopped her with a hand gesture. "I appreciate the formality, but there is no need. I do hope you feel alright."

The drake nodded, shifting back into a more comfortable position to rest her sore muscles.

As if she could tell, the Life-Binder added, "I expect you'll feel sore for a while. So much had to be done," Alexstrasza ran her hand along Virigosa's flanks, as if feeling for anything that she might have missed. "I could not reconstruct your body how it originally was, and my deepest apologies for that. There were hardly any scales, hardly anything left of your wings, and there wasn't enough time to fetch someone who might've been able to tell me how you looked."

"I'm alive, and it's an honor beyond imagining to know that you've done that for me," Virigosa responded.

"Your courage is admirable, Virigosa," Alexstrasza said. "Had it not been for you, _I_ would be dead now, and so many others. Ensuring that you live is hardly a repayment for what you've done for me and all of Azeroth."

Virigosa felt that there should be _something_ she had to say to the Dragonqueen, anything that would be more meaningful than simple silence. After so many years first honoring Alexstrasza as the Dragonqueen, and then hating her as an enemy of the Blue Dragonflight, there had to be something to say now that Virigosa was face-to-face with her, having a conversation. All she could bring herself to do was smile, and nod, and listen.

 _The Nexus War._ The memory of it came bubbling up in Virigosa's head. Did Alexstrasza know that she had fought on the opposite side? If the Dragonqueen had known what Virigosa had done, would she be acting the same, would she be saying all these things?

"We brought you here to Wyrmrest Temple as soon as we could, once my visit to Mount Hyjal was over," Alexstrasza explained. "I expect it will not take you particularly long to recover; Heristrasza will help you as you need. I must attend now to my duties, but it's good to meet you at last, Virigosa."

Virigosa nodded pleasantly, tired and longing to sleep again. _She's acting so nice to me._ "I'm honored by your visit, my queen," she said.

Alexstrasza turned to leave, smiling. "You're a noble drake, Virigosa," she said. "Before you leave Wyrmrest Temple, do feel free to visit me again, when you're feeling better. I'm sure there's much more you may like to say."

Then she was gone, and Virigosa once again slipped into sleep.


	9. Crossing Hearts

Sariona mourned Kasiona's death for a long time. The first few days, she would hardly leave her quarters except to eat, and would not even let Araxion talk to her. However, when the Twilight's Hammer started having need of her once more, she was forced to be more active and speak more often. The war didn't stop for anyone, and Sariona would have to play her part regardless of how she felt.

There was often some downtime at night, and after Araxion returned from his meeting with Eyrigos, he was eager to speak to Sariona. She was alone, brooding in a corner of the cave they shared. Araxion approached her carefully from the side, and she turned to face him.

"Sariona," he said excitedly. "Today I met with one of our informants, and he told me some information that I think you'll find quite interesting."

Sariona left her corner to walk the rest of the cave, spreading her wings. "I'm listening."

"He knows who killed Kasiona," Araxion explained. "He said that she's a blue drake named Virigosa. A veteran of the Nexus War."

Immediately, Sariona perked up, growling. "Virigosa? It's good to know the name- my thanks, Araxion," she spread out her wings, instantly taking on a more aggressive stance. "I swear, I'll find her. I'll hunt her to the edge of Azeroth if I have to, and when I find her, she'll wish she had never been born. She'll regret the day she decided to kill Kasiona."

Araxion twitched his tail, a bit uncomfortable. "Well, you know... He told me that Virigosa's a good fighter. Scary good. Kasiona's pretty talented, you know that, and apparently Virigosa just ripped her apart."

Sariona hissed, moving close to Araxion and glaring. "You've seen how good _I_ am at fighting, Araxion. You think I can't handle a puny drake from a lesser flight?"

"No, no, of course, that's not what I was saying at all," Araxion was taken aback. "I just... I care about you, Sariona, I don't want you to get hurt."

Sariona turned her back to him, her tail lashing. "Well you don't have to," she spat. "Sometimes we can't always protect the ones we care about. Sometimes we can't always have the people we love."

After a moment of watching, Araxion realized that there was no point in reasoning with Sariona. He retreated to his own part of the cave, eventually setting aside his worries about Sariona's vengeance and falling into an uneasy sleep. He awoke the next morning as the first rays of dawn entered the cave and stumbled out of the cave, lining up with the rest of the drakes.

"We've got an assignment for you all; and because we're so nice, today, you get to volunteer for it. We're assaulting the Nordrassil base camp directly, mostly the outskirts, trying to thin their numbers for our infiltrators. Lots of drakes, lots of mortals, lots of opportunity for fun," the head cultist announced. "So, do we have any volunteers?"

There was a moment of hesitation; everybody knew how dangerous a mission like that could be. The major camps were heavily fortified, the Nordrassil camp the most fortified of them all. It would be particularly dangerous because it was an open attack rather than a stealth mission, meaning that the greens could try to pick off their forces from a distance.

There was silence for a while, and then, finally, a single drake stepped forward. A cold chill went through Araxion's body as he recognized her. "I'll go," Sariona said.

Araxion's response was awkward but almost instant. "I'll go too!" he blurted. The head cultist gave him a strange look, but wrote down both the names.

"So that's two volunteers, better than last time," the head cultist remarked, cackling. "Too bad for the rest of you who didn't volunteer; you're going anyways. We need as much firepower as possible. You leave immediately, let's get a move on."

The drakes were used to the routine, and they got with their combat partners very quickly. Araxion found his way to Sariona, who looked more than annoyed with him. "Why did you volunteer?" she hissed.

"Why did you?" he retorted.

She shook her head, looking down. "Kasiona," she answered. "Kasiona was sent to the Nordrassil base camp, right? So Virigosa has to be there. I'll find her, I swear, I'll kill her."

Araxion considered putting his wing around Sariona, but decided not to risk any more of her anger. "The informant told me that Virigosa was badly injured, that she probably won't be on the battlefield for some time," he noted.

Sariona growled, but it was with satisfaction instead of frustration. "Good, she'll be easy pickings then," she said.

Araxion and Sariona managed to find a position behind most of the twilight forces, meaning that they'd be safer and have more flexibility with their tactics. The trip to the Nordrassil base camp was fairly short, and the attack began promptly. The sky was a mess of shadowflame and acid, green and black and blue-violet scales. Araxion and Sariona flew far above the scene, Sariona scanning it for any sign of blue scales. Eyrigos, undoubtedly, had been informed of this attack in advance, ensuring he wouldn't be in danger.

"We can't just stay up here and not fight, we'll be punished," Araxion warned.

"Let's go for that wyrm off to the side," Sariona nodded and gestured her tail in the direction of the massive green dragon. "We can take her. And wyrms tend to be commanders, too; she might know where Virigosa is."

The two swooped around to behind, each taking a spot on either side of the wyrm. Sariona gave the signal, and in unison, the pair swooped down on either side of the wyrm. Sariona dug her claws deep into the wyrm's spine, just out of reach of her fangs and talons, while Araxion went underneath and sliced open the soft belly scales. The wyrm was thrown off balance, falling to the ground in an attempt to smash Araxion. Sariona took the opportunity, taking hold of the wyrm's throat. Araxion went to work on one of her wings, beginning to slice away at the membrane.

"Tell me your name, wyrm," Sariona snarled, her talons digging into the green's throat. They were far enough from the fighting for no drakes to have noticed yet.

"Nalasra," she coughed, swiping feebly with her table towards Araxion.

"Nalasra, o'mighty wyrm, what a pleasure to make your acquaintance," Sariona's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "Now listen, my friend and I have at least three red wyrms to our names. All my friend over there has to do is cut a little further, and you'll bleed out from that wing being torn off. We came here looking for one piece of information, and if you give it to us, we'll make this nice and easy. Understand?"

Nalasra tried to let out a roar, a call for help, but Sariona dug deep into her throat and began to drag her claws.

"We're looking for Virigosa," Sariona said. "Blue drake. Female. Tell me where she is, and it'll all be over."

"Virigosa?" Nalasra echoed.

"Are you deaf, wyrm?" Sariona spat, smacking the green with her tail.

"She's injured, she's not here," Nalasra answered, slowly. "The reds took her to Wyrmrest. No way you'll find her here."

Sariona lowered her face to meet Nalasra's, breathing out a torrent of shadowfire. "Tell me the truth!"

"I've told you all there is to tell," Nalasra was blind now, coughing.

Sariona turned back to Araxion, clearly displeased. "Kill her," Sariona commanded, detaching her own claws and biting into Nalasra's throat. Araxion finished ripping away at the wing membrane, turning his attention to the soft belly scales.

"You don't know what you're doing," Nalasra choked on her last words, but the blood was flowing too quickly, and she was not long for this world.

Araxion and Sariona ascended to the sky, Sariona almost content to leave Araxion behind. He had to hurry to catch up with her, and she spun around, furious. "You're useless," she spat.

Araxion moved back, out of reach of her claws. "Sariona, what's wrong with you?" he asked. "Are you alright, is anything wrong?"

She gave him a long look, silent. A pair of green dragons had snuck up on the pair, and Araxion spun around, engaging one in midair. They fell to the ground quickly, no matter for Araxion's experience and training. Sariona had done the same, absolutely bloodying her foe before letting the body drop to the ground. Araxion, alertly, looked around for more potential enemies.

"This is not the time to talk," Sariona said.

"Now, we fight," Araxion agreed.

Together, they swooped back into the battle, working together as always to bring down drakes and adult dragons alike.


	10. Final Virigosa Angst Chapter

Virigosa was soon able to rise from her bed, soon able to walk and fly and live again. The muscle soreness lasted a few more days, but faded quickly. She applied runes to her hide, giving her new scales the classic blue dragon patterns. She had gotten a chance to look at herself in a pool of water, and she didn't look like the same dragon at all. Everything was off- her horns were prominent now, her scales a different shade of blue, her wings were the wrong shape, the wrong color, everything.

At least she was alive.

It was hard to adjust to the changes. She was larger than she had been before, and that was hell for her balance. It took a while to adjust to the completely new wing structure; she now had to worry about the fragile membrane all the way down to her tail, rather than just her shoulders. Still, there were benefits to Virigosa's new form; already, she could feel how much stronger she was and how much tougher her scales were.

She realized now what had happened; while Virigosa had been hatched in Coldarra, her family was from Kalimdor; this was a fairly common situation as dragons moved to Coldarra in the decades before the Nexus War. Alexstrasza was undoubtedly more familiar with the traditional features of Coldarra natives: the deep blue scales, attached wings, and prominent horns, found in dragons such as Kalecgos, Tarecgosa, and ultimately in Malygos himself, the progenitor of the line. The Blue Dragonflight had several such regional "lines" with identifying traits, even more than other flights which were not nearly as spread out: the Coldarra line, the Kalimdor line, the Broken Isles line, and the now-extinct Zin-Azshari line, to name a few.

With that in mind, Virigosa couldn't really blame the Life-Binder for her misstep in healing her body. Hardly anybody, not even most blue dragons, could tell the differences between some lines, how was she supposed to expect Alexstrasza to identify which Virigosa belonged to?

Coldarra line dragons had always been considered some of the most physically attractive, and now as Virigosa walked through the halls of Wyrmrest Temple, she found herself turning heads of other drakes. She couldn't blame them, really- she'd done the same to a few other dragonesses of her age back in Coldarra- but it was odd and almost uncomfortable. Luckily, most of the other drakes at the temple were red, and they wouldn't dare flirt with a dragon from another flight.

After she felt more comfortable with her new body, Virigosa knew that she should test herself in combat. Heristrasza suggested attending a regular sparring event taking place in one of the upper floors of the temple, and while Virigosa wasn't too keen on practicing combat with a group of mostly red drakes, it did sound like a good idea.

She arrived to the event later than most, and several drakes had already gathered. It was just as she expected: the vast majority were red, with a few greens and even fewer bronzes. Virigosa, as per usual, was the only blue. She slinked into a corner of the room, away from all the others, and waited for it to begin. A nearby green drake turned and smiled, and Virigosa looked back blankly, wishing to fade into the wall.

The group's leader, surprisingly enough, was a bronze wyrm instead of a red. He looked around the room with a warm expression, and began reading off a list. "Alright then," the wyrm began, "Most of you all are regulars here by now, so let's get right down to business, shall we?"

He pulled out a list, and Virigosa recognized the paper as the sheet she'd used to sign up for the sparring event. "Alright, let's get started with the first starting pairs. Haresra and Norfstrasz, Beyristrasz and Tirestrasz, Deristrasz and... Virigosa..." He looked up and around wildly, finally resting his eyes on the blue drake, his expression one of recognition. "Oh! Virigosa! It's, uh, so nice to, uhm, see you!" His body language was odd, as if he wasn't sure whether to stay still or move.

"I don't believe we've ever met," Virigosa said coldly.

The wyrm ducked his head, embarrassed. "Oh, right, forgive me please," His voice almost had a bit of pleading in it. "The Bronze Dragonflight, you know, time magic... Always getting the chronological order, you know, the, uh, flow of time mixed up... Third time I've done that today, silly me..."

By now, most eyes were on Virigosa, and she shifted uncomfortably, moving back even further into the wall. She nodded, and the wyrm nervously went back to reading off the list. Virigosa was curious about the implications of the wyrm knowing her from another time- and being so nervous, to boot- but she wouldn't dare ask. She knew that she wouldn't get an answer, and she wasn't quite sure if she wanted one.

"Hey, Virigosa."

There was a rustling of wings and feathers, and Virigosa instinctively snapped her head around to observe the newcomer. It was a small drake, a male, and he was clearly quite anxious. His most noticeable features were his scars. He was covered in pale red-orange skin where his scales had been ripped out, and in some places, his hide had healed in an ugly way, his scales overlapping. His wing membranes were torn, with large holes around the edges. After a moment more of looking, Virigosa realized that on the side opposite her, he had no eye, just skin where it once was. Clearly, this dragon had been horribly maimed.

"Hello," she said, her voice distant and disinterested.

"Hi," he said. "I'm Deristrasz. I believe we were assigned to be sparring partners, yeah?"

Virigosa nodded, looking to her feet. The wyrm finished reading off of the list, and the drakes dispersed to different parts of the room. Deristrasz was twitching, occasionally casting glances at Virigosa. He finally took a deep breath and said, "Did you fight in the Nexus War?"

"Yes," Virigosa was taken aback, her voice sharp.

Deristrasz looked equally surprised, his eyes wide. _With fear?_ Virigosa wondered. "I know you," he said.

Virigosa tilted her head, puzzled, and suddenly the red launched into a long monologue. "I met you before, in battle, over Coldarra," he blurted out. "Only briefly. But I remember you. You were good in battle, you know, very good. You changed my life."

He continued on, in what was obviously very well thought out, perhaps even rehearsed. "You did this to me. My eye, the scars, the wings, you can see," The words just spilled out of his mouth, but they somehow weren't hostile. "But I don't blame you. I don't hate you at all, nothing like that. You know, I know what it's like to be in a war like that. I'm a son of Alexstrasza, born when she was imprisoned in Grim Batol. I know what it's like to be compelled into fighting, I know the way it works, the way it is. So I don't blame you. I don't hate you."

Virigosa sat back, her tail curled close around her front feet, a completely blank expression on her face. There was no external response from her. _He's thought about this for a long time, he's wanted to say this for a long time,_ she realized. _He never thought he'd say it to my face. And he's not saying it to me, he's saying it to himself. To the idea he has of me, maybe._

"Do you still want to practice, then?" Virigosa asked, backing away, glancing around anxious.

Delristrasz didn't hesitate, and somehow Virigosa realized that she had asked the question for herself. "Yes," he said.

Virigosa felt trapped, she realized. She didn't want to be there anymore, she didn't want to fight, or even pretend to fight, this small drake who had been so badly scarred. She didn't want to be in this room with the walls closing in around her and red scales everywhere she could see. She was the minority here, trapped with a bunch of dragons who were once her sworn enemies. What was stopping them from turning on her? What was stopping _her_ from turning on _them_?

"Excuse me," she said.

Then, to any observer she was gone, a flash of blue particles, then nothing. Her invisibility spell took effect almost immediately, and she pushed off, flying above the other drakes chatting or practicing on the ground. She made her way to the exit, only dissipating her invisibility spell once she was well away from the exit. She returned to the room that had been loaned to her by the temple, and curled up in the corner.

She couldn't keep doing this, she told herself. She couldn't just run off whenever she got upset, she couldn't just sit there and mope whenever someone mentioned the Nexus War. She couldn't just get angry, couldn't just keep thinking about herself.

 _It's not about me._

No, there was a whole new war out there to fight. Deathwing was out there trying to destroy the entire world, so many members of the Blue Dragonflight were risking or sacrificing their lives to stop the Twilight's Hammer, and Mount Hyjal was burning. And what was Virigosa doing? She was sequestered away in Wyrmrest Temple, away from the fighting, lost in her own thoughts and her own feelings.

 _War is what I'm good at. Fighting is what I'm good at,_ she thought. _So why am I not out there?_

She thudded her tail against the floor, rising to her feet and moving her body to the bed a little ways away. She laid down, head in the bedding, and pulled her bright blue wings up close to her body. _Remember what Alexstrasza said about me?_ And that was such a strange thought, to think that an Aspect said something to _her_ \- the red aspect, out of all of them. _It was flattery._ Virigosa was sure of it; Alexstrasza was undoubtedly a wonderful statesperson after so many millennia as the Dragonqueen. She had mastered the art of flattery, she had to.

In the Nexus War, Virigosa had been one of many. She was another set of blue scales among countless, a single being helpless to change or at least alter the tide of war. She was talented, sure, but really nothing special. Really nothing _different_. So why should this war be any different? How could she possibly hope to fend against the thousands of twilight dragons and tens of thousands of cultists, a single young dragon against so many?

At the same time, it _felt_ different now. She no longer had the scars from the Nexus War, and one of her worst victims of the war- one of her worst who survived, anyways- had just about forgiven her. She was a blank slate. There was nothing holding her back anymore. The Dragonqueen herself had come to heal Virigosa's wounds, to wipe away the scars of the past and leave her with a clean future. It was so bright, so promising, provided they could win this war.

No amount of their forgiveness, however, seemed to help Virigosa any. A realization dawned upon her, and she sat up, looking down at her talons. She imagined them stained with blood, as they'd been so many times before. She pictured herself, her _new_ self with the deep blue scales and the attached wings, engaging a red dragon in combat; she shook her head, and the red was replaced by a twilight drake, a true monster incapable of thought or speech or love.

 _Perhaps this is what I was always meant to be,_ she thought, and it was comforting. She laid her head down and closed her eyes, clearing her thoughts and drifting into sweet oblivion.


	11. Visitors

Ultimately, Araxion and Sariona did not make good on their promise to speak after the battle. They returned to the camp, safe and relatively unharmed, and slept for long hours to regain their energy. The morning after, they were awoken by one of the camp's head cultists, a tauren, banging on a dirty pan to rouse them from sleep.

"Araxion and Sariona?" he asked, a sneer on his face, pleased at how annoying he had managed to be. "The High Priestess wants you at our Hyjal base. Something important. They need you there as soon as possible."

Araxion yawned, and Sariona was the first to be aware."For what?" she asked.

The cultist shrugged, walking out of the cave entrance. Both of the drakes were unhappy with the rude awakening, but left the cave regardless, still fighting off sleep as they emerged into the center of the camp. Sarona was muttering under her breath, and Araxion turned to look at her.

"Which way is the main camp, anyways?" Araxion asked.

"Must be southwest," Sariona said. "We're one of the camps closest to the bulk of the fighting, nearest Nordrassil, so the main camp must be further south and west."

Araxion paused, pushing off into the air and nodding. "I'm sure there's plenty of other drakes coming and going from there," he said. "We can follow them, maybe."

Sure enough, after a while of flying, Araxion and Sariona could see large groups of twilight drakes flying in various directions. They eventually identified the path to the main camp, and followed along from the sky. There was a designated platform for new arrivals, and they landed there. A night elf dressed in twilight garb stepped forward to meet them.

"Names?" she asked.

"Araxion and Sariona," Araxion answered smoothly. "We were told we have buisiness with the High Priestess here."

The night elf scrawled something down on a piece of paper, rolling her eyes. "Another pair here for _that_ ," she sighed, then gestured dehind her. "There's a tent over there for you, they'll tell you what to do."

Araxion and Sariona made their way over to the tent. Araxion went in first, and immediately, a cultist grabbed his neck and moved him off to the side. The same happened to Sariona; they were brought together into the same part of the tent. Someone dumped a bucket of soapy water first over Sariona and then Araxion, and two cultists began scrubbing both of the drakes. Sariona backed off, surprised, while Araxion looked around in confusion.

"What are you doing?" he demanded.

Another cultist joined in, and he had to admit, it was nice to feel his scales being cleaned. There was hardly an opportunity to remove all the dirt and blood that built up over time, but the fact that these cultists were cleaning them only raised more questions. The High Priestess, a human Araxion knew to be named Azil, emerged from behind a curtain to address the two drakes.

"Ah, you two have finally arrived," she said. "I assigned a few cultists to clean you up before you meet with the... dignitaries. It's good that you're filthy- it shows that you've been fighting."

Araxion shifted to let the cultists clean under his wings, while Sariona fixed the priestess with a cold stare. "What are you talking about?" she asked.

The priestess pulled some papers out of her robe. "Allow me to explain," she said. "You two are among the best and most brightest of your flight. We've been watching you for a long time; your trainer, Esteria, would always send glowing reviews of your performance under her guidance. Especially considering your ages, you are among the twilight dragons with the most drakes killed. Yesterday, that wyrm you slew, Nalasra, was one of the highest-ranking commanders at Nordrassil. You've done us a great service by killing her."

The priestess continued. "But that is not why you called you here; her death had no bearing on whether or not we'd ask for you. We have two emissaries here from elsewhere on Azeroth, and they're seeking two of the most talented twilight dragons for special roles. There is Lady Irissia, on behalf of the naga, and Kerelion, on behalf of Deathwing himself. You should be honored."

Araxion was clearly pleased with the cultists who were cleaning him, while Sariona was more wary, shying away from touch. The High Priestess was amused, a wry smile on her face. "You need to be presentable for our guests," she said. "I'll tell them to expect you in fifteen minutes."

It took a little less than that for the cultists to finish up. It had been the first real cleaning that either Araxion or Sariona had ever gotten, and they both took a bit to marvel at their own scales, and then at each other. They glistened in the light with every movement; it was strange to look and see just how beautiful twilight dragons really were, considering that they were usually only seen with blood and grime all over their body.

"It's time," The cultist that walked in was a tauren, and he gestured for the drakes to follow. "Stay silent, unless they talk to you directly. You want to show your obedience," he explained.

They walked to another, larger tent a short ways away. The High Priestess stood on an elevated platform, looking over entire tent. Araxion and Sariona were ushered into a circle in the middle of the tent; on either side of them was a dark-haired human, presumably Kerelion, and Lady Irissia, a white-scaled naga. The High Priestess clapped, smiling. A cold chill passed through Araxion- that same old cold feeling. It had been so long since he'd felt that.

"So they've arrived," she said.

"These are the youngest we've seen," Kerelion noted.

"Ah, yes, but perhaps some of the most accomplished, especially considering their age," The High Priestess said.

Sariona was moved off to the side, while the tauren cultist gestured for Araxion to walk around the circle. He complied, both the naga and the black dragon looking at him closely.

"This here is Araxion," the High Priestess began, reading from a paper. "Truly one of our finest. He is from the brood of the great Sintharia, sired by Deathwing himself. He's only three months old, having spent only a month under the guidance of Esteria in the Twilight Highlands before being sent to aid in the effort here at Mount Hyjal. We know that he's capable of siring whelps: it says something about our confidence in his abilities that we'd let a fertile twilight drake fight on the front lines of such an active battlefield as Mount Hyjal."

Araxion couldn't help but be surprised. _How do they know if I'm able to have children?_ he wondered. _And why is that such a big deal?_

Araxion and Sariona switched places, with Sariona now walking around in the circle. The High Priestess continued. "Sariona, who you see now, is around the same age as Araxion, from the same class taught by Esteria," she said. "Notably, she is originally from a bronze egg instead of the red or blue typical of twilight dragons, her egg laid by the young bronze Mazidormi, her father unknown. We aren't certain- you can't tell until they're of age, with females- but we believe that she is fertile as well. And like with Araxion, the fact that we even let her on the battlefield as a possibly fertile drake is a true indicator of her abilities."

"They seem like they'd be prime candidates for your breeding program," Kerelion noted. "Why instead are you offering them for our projects?"

"Lady Sintharia is producing many children, and we don't want our project to become over-saturated with her brood, seeing as a very high percentage of them is fertile," the High Priestess explained. "And while Sariona may be valuable to introduce fresh blood to the lines, there are many azureborn drakes with even more unique lines, and we have more confidence in the fertility of many of them."

"I would like to see Sariona closer," Lady Irissia requested.

The cultist beckoned Sariona out, and she walked over to the Lady. She slithered down to be closer to the drake, putting her hands on the drake's scales to feel them more closely. The naga ran her hands over the drake's face and neck, as if looking for something in particular. She poked at the drake's wings, and Sariona lifted them obediently, allowing the naga to inspect them. Lady Irissia moved back to her original platform, nodding with approval.

"She's a beautiful specimen," the naga remarked. "Does she know magic?"

"We don't teach any of our young drakes anything except plain combat skills, so no magic apart from their natural shadowfire breath," the High Priestess explained. "And while we can't even trace Sariona's lineage back to Nozdormu, seeing as she's bronzeborn, it stands to reason that she'll bee very capable of learning."

"Have you found your dragon, Irissia?" Kerelion teased, his voice unusually harsh.

"I don't like to make commitments," Lady Irissia said. "But I do believe that she's what my mistress is looking for, yes."

"I have mine," Kerelion said, hardly casting a glance at Araxion. "I know a good dragon when I see them- I am one, after all. Our Lord will be most pleased."

"Both of your selections are going to be fighting tomorrow, keep in mind," the High Priestess noted. "It's an honor that you've chosen from our drakes, but we absolutely need the best and brightest of our drakes for the coming battle. We'll be sending them back to the Twilight Highlands as soon as we can, but they will be fighting with us once more."

"I welcome it," Kerelion rumbled. "One last combat challenge, in my mind."

"I have no doubt about my choice's talent," Lady Irissia said. "We will eagerly await her arrival."

Araxion and Sariona were led away by the tauren cultist to a small tent with sleeping areas. The tauren turned to them, gesturing to the tent.

"Aren't we going back to the camp?" Araxion asked, surprised.

"I believe you heard the High Priestess mention the coming battle," the tauren replied. "We need you to fight, too. The site of attack is closer to her than your camp, so you might as well just save your energy and stay here."

The two drakes took their spots inside the tent, looking at each other with the same expression. "I'm not quite sure what to make of that," Araxion said.

"It was like some sort of auction ring," Sariona said, and shuddered. "That naga put her hands on me, Araxion. They felt so odd."

"It looks like she 'chose' you, whatever that entails," Araxion noted.

"That Kerelion had his eye on you too, I'm sure of it," Sarion said.

Araxion circled in his bed, laying down and resting his head on his forelegs. "I'd rather not think of it for now," he said.

"Resting before the battle tomorrow, now that we know of it?" Sariona asked. "That's wise."

"You should, too," Araxion said.

Sariona sighed, and laid down. "I'll see if I can," she said.


	12. Demigod's Rebirth

Virigosa ultimately never did take up Alexstrasza on her effort to meet again. The day after the sparring incident, she tagged along with a party of red dragons en route to Hyjal and took a portal to Nordrassil. Such arcane portals were used sparingly, so as to preserve the ley lines surrounding Nordrassil, but the reds' mission was urgent and Virigosa, as a blue dragon, would only help considering the portal's magical nature.

They were greeted on the other end by Jerisra, a drake whom Virigosa was familiar with. While the red dragons reported to their own commander, Jerisra brought Virigosa off to the side to speak.

"You were under the command of Nalasra before your absence, yes?" Jerisra asked.

"I was," Virigosa confirmed.

"She's dead," Jerisra said. "Slain by twilights in an attack on Nordrassil two days ago. Those under her command are to report to Jarod Shadowsong himself, and ultimately, Ysera." There was a thoughtful pause, and Jerisra added, "I doubt you will need to report to anyone, however. The fighting here in Hyjal is about to come to a head, reach a climax. The Dreamer seeks to open a Dreamgate to allow the great Cenarius through, and to allow passage from Nordrassil to Moonglade and Wyrmrest."

"I'll need to report to someone, then," Virigosa said.

Jerisra shook her head. "We're sending everything we have," she said. "Just follow with the rest. I'm loath to suggest such disorganization, but if we're being frank here, time is too limited and the stakes are too high. You've been in combat before, you'll know what to do."

Sure enough, Nordrassil was chaotic. Dragons and mortals alike were rushing around, and a few younger drakes were practicing sparring in the shade of the World Tree. Wings of dragons were flying in battle formations or watching for possible intruders aiming to intercept them before they even arrived at their destination. In the chaos, Virigosa thought she spotted Ysera, in her elven form, upon the back of a drake. _An aspect is far too large of a target,_ Virigosa noted, _But they need her to open the dreamgate._

Virigosa scanned the moving crowd for blue, hoping to find her old friend Eyrigos. There were a few other blues- she was not the only one of her kind here at this pivotal moment- but Eyrigos was not one of them. She was alone in her anxiety, alone to prepare for the battle. Unlike her battles before, during the Nexus War, she had no commander telling her what to do. _It almost seems doomed for failure,_ she noted. _None of Nalasra's forces know what they're supposed to be doing._

It was a few hours before it was finally time to go. There must've been a formal annoucement somewhere, but Virigosa didn't hear it. Suddenly, the camp seemed to errupt, dragons and druids taking to the sky and setting off for the battlefield. Most of the ground forces were already close to the location, but several drakes carried additional soldiers on their backs. It was as if so many leaves- hundreds, maybe more- were flying in the breeze. Virigosa flew up to join them, positioning herself high above the rest, and they went south, towards the edge of the mountain, skirting the bulk of the twilight forces.

The greens dispersed, many depositing their riders behind the lines on the ground. Thousands of mortals, druids in various forms as well as non-druid adventurers, were fighting the cultists on the ground. From the west, a huge flight of twilight dragons were flying towards the battle, encroaching darkness on the horizon, a mass of black and blue and purple. Virigosa found herself chilled by the sight, then flew lower to the ground with the rest of the emerald drakes, preparing herself for battle.

The point where green and twilight met was brutal, corpses falling to the ground soon after they engaged. Few on the very front lines would survive, and many mortals below would be crushed by fallen dragons.

Virigosa waited, and the twilight dragons came to her. One tried to lock talons with her, and she dodged upwards, swiping her hind claws across their wings and icy breath into their face. The dragon fell like a leaf fluttering to the ground, and almost as soon, another drake was upon her. Virigosa let out a cry, a pulse of arcane energy escaping from her talons, giving her a moment of relief. That one fell quickly, too, no match for Virigosa's talent and experience.

 _I'm just as capable as I ever was,_ Virigosa noted. Indeed, her new form was stronger, _more_ capable, than her old one had been, even if she still wasn't quite used to it yet.

Virigosa was tempted to fly above the battlefield, lending her aid to the Green Dragonflight from afar. The twilights, though, just kept coming; the blue drake was far too close to the front lines, and her scales stuck out like a sore thumb. She had sustained a few injures to her wing and flank- although the drakes who inflicted them were not so lucky as to escape with their lives- when she saw her break.

The twilights seemed to stop coming for just a moment, and Virigosa took the opportunity to fly up in the sky. She could hardly see anything, with the swarms of green and twilight just below her. The drakes assigned to Ysera's guard were rising to join the battle. _Good news, maybe,_ Virigosa realized. _Or bad._

Another twilight flew up to meet her, and Virigosa locked talons with the drake, who was more capable than her previous opponents. As she fought, an echoing cry rang through the valley, repeated by dozens of drakes in both Draconic and Darnassian: "Cenarius is with us!"

Virigosa threw off the twilight drake, sending it spiraling downward with a well-aimed kick to the wing. Maybe not deadly, but it would do. A great green glow caught her eye, and Virigosa turned to behold Ysera herself taking the battlefield, the green aspect's eyes fully open and glowing silver-blue. She was magnificent, an unstoppable force, showing the twilight forces just why the aspects were some of the most powerful beings on Azeroth.

The process of summoning Cenarius was expected to be much longer, but the fact that it was complete was a huge relief. The presence of Ysera on the battlefield was already boosting morale, and she was magnificent, slaying scores of twilight drakes with every weapon available to her. Already, the battle was becoming easier, and far fewer green dragons were falling to the ground.

Suddenly, two twilight drakes caught Virigosa off-guard. One went for her directly, locking talons and distracting Virigosa, while the the other went to attack her undefended flanks. The blue would not be fooled by their strategy, and she knocked off her main attacker, claws passing through wing, causing the twilight to recoil but not relent. Virigosa turned her attention to her other attacker, breathing out a torrent of ice.

Then, suddenly, a great shadow fell over them. The main attacker chose not to reengage the blue, flying off, while Virigosa was left with a single drake at her side. Ysera's tail swept across the battlefield, knocking back several drakes, including Virigosa herself. Instinctively, as all blue dragons were taught as whelps, she cast a spell to slow her fall. Maybe it did some good, but before she knew what had happened, Virigosa found herself crashing into some sort of wall.

There was a splash somewhere, and then a great tumbling sound. Virigosa's head was ringing, spinning, as she recovered her senses. Slowly, she became aware that she was in some sort of cave, knocked there by Ysera's tail.

Then, she noticed, there were two pale blue lights, glowing in the otherwise pitch black darkness. That was when Virigosa realized that she was not alone.


	13. Against the Dreamer

The mood in the twilight base was anxious. Some cultists were busy summoning elementals before the battle, while drakes flew overhead, scouting out the battlefield and sending messages back and forth between the various twilight camps. One could tell that something was coming just by the feeling in the air.

Araxion and Sariona were brought to a tent with around a dozen other drakes. A high-ranking cultist was there to address them, a tauren. "You all have met with Kerelion and Lady Irissia," he said. "And they have chosen two of you for their own purposes. Today, however, you have one final test. Go out there. Live. Make us proud, make the Master proud."

Araxion and Sariona returned outside to rest before the battle. In a corner of a camp, they laid down, both clearly quite nervous. "It sounds like the green drakes are going to be giving it all they've got," Araxion said.

Sariona nodded. "And we're going to be throwing all we have back at them."

Araxion glanced around, then lowered his voice. "Aren't you scared, Sariona?" he asked. "Just a bit?"

She snorted, flicking her tail nonchalantly. "No, of course not," she said. "Why would you think that? This is what I was made to do. What _we_ were made to do."

Eyrigos's words passed through Araxion's head: _"As long as I did what was right, I could not get hurt, I could not die."_ He wondered, briefly, if Sariona had a similar train of thought.

"You shouldn't be so afraid, Araxion," Sariona added, and Araxion gave her a strange look. "We're good at what we do, and you have me with you. The Master is on our side. There's nothing to be afraid of, nothing."

Araxion rose to his feet, flicking his tail in annoyance. "You think I'm afraid?" he asked, indignantly.

"I know you too well," Sariona said.

Araxion's expression softed, and he laid down once again. "They have so many more than us," he explained. "And all they have to do to win is summon in their demigod, summon in Cenarius. Like the High Priestess said. They already have the advantage in this fight."

"They're lesser dragons, they can't stand up to us," Sariona replied. "Spawn of a lesser god. We have nothing to be afraid of, Araxion."

He nodded. _I hope you're right, Sariona._

The call to battle came, after a while. The drakes began to gather at the camp's gates, after a while, anxiously awaiting battle. There was a clear current of unease, a clear nervousness, among the twilight forces. Nobody, however, was shying away from the battle. Everyone was wholehearted devoted to the Twilight's Hammer and to the Old Gods.

The greens launched their attack first, a storm of green and gold and amber across the dawn sky. On the ground, the mortals were already fighting, and the sound of the conflict could be heard even from the camp. A murmur swept through the drakes; all of them knew it would not be long until they were called to the battlefield. The Green Dragonflight awaited above.

The High Priestess appeared upon the camp's ramparts. "Dragons of twilight," she said. "The children of Ysera wait above, seeking to call their false god, Cenarius, back into this world. The Master has spoken- we are to end them. Take flight, and prepare for a long battle. There shall be no rest for the unbelievers."

The drakes took to the skies in waves, careful to avoid each others' wings and tails. Already, drakes from other camps had begun to engage the Green Dragonflight, and their corpses fell to the ground like drops of night, crushing any mortals unlucky enough to be caught below the fighting. Araxion and Sariona's group flew to the side to flank the green forces, avoiding the brutal fighting at the front lines. They caught the green drakes by surprise, tearing into their scales and sending them back down to Azeroth.

"Stay close," Araxion warned Sariona. "These are not the same drakes we've fought before. These are seasoned veterans, battle-tested."

"Oh, Araxion," Sariona crooned. "There is no need to be so afraid."

Regardless, she stuck by his side, and together they knocked many of their enemies from the sky. Together, it almost felt like they were unstoppable, with hardly any dragon able to stand up to their combined might. Sariona flew up above the battle periodically, surveying the situation elsewhere on the battlefield in case of new developments. One time, however, she flew up and did not return. Araxion finished off the latest drake foolish enough to challenge them, and moved to join Sariona above.

"I thought I told you to stay close," Araxion said.

"Look," Sariona said, and gestured towards a cliff near the border of the valley, not more than forty wingbeats away. All alone, above the battlefield, was a blue drake. A twilight had come up to it, and the two locked talons, battling in midair.

Immediately, Araxion knew what she was thinking. "Sariona, that's not her," he said. "You know what the green said."

"You can't trust the lesser flights," Sariona hissed. "And even if that's not her, it's one of her kin. I _will_ have my vengeance, Araxion, you know that."

There was a cry, suddenly, and both the twilight drakes turned in its direction. A massive shape had emerged far from the front lines, behind the chaos of battle, a terrible behemoth with the all-too-familiar green scales. Ysera herself had taken to the battlefield. Throughout the valley, the greens were calling to each other, celebrating their victory. Cenarius was summoned; the battle was soon to be lost. There was no doubt in any twilight drake's mind.

The blue had thrown off her attacker, and Sariona bolted forwards to take her on. _That drake looks so much like Eyrigos,_ he thought, and a distinct feeling of discomfort welled up inside him. Araxion hesitated just a moment, then followed after her. "Sariona!" he called.

But Sariona would not listen, could not listen, her mind fixated on the blue. Sariona locked talons with the drake while Araxion was content to hover at her side, aiming for the wings. He was doing very little of the fighting; it was all Sariona and her anger. Then, somehow, the blue managed to rake her claws along Sariona's wing, tearing out huge amounts of membrane. It was the most serious injury she had ever received in combat. The twilight recoiled, unsteady for a moment, but moved to continue fighting, hardly fazed.

The blue drake turned to Araxion, calm as ever, and unleashed a powerful ice breath attack. He let out a cry, blinded for an uncomfortable stretch time, and heard Sariona's pained wingbeats as she flew away. _Why,_ he wondered, but just for a moment; he opened his eyes to behold Ysera's tail sweep across the sky, crashing into him and a few other drakes across. The next thing he knew, he was falling, his body out of his control, at the mercy of the sky.

He closed his eyes, and suddenly the fall did not feel as fast, not as horrible. Araxion felt himself crash into a pool of water with a large splash, and then another thud echoed in his ears. He opened his eyes, trying to see just what had happened.

 _She knocked me into a cave, a pool of water in a cave,_ he realized. _What are the odds?_

The pool of water was too shallow, he realized, far too shallow. _It shouldn't have been able to save me._

There was a groan, and it wasn't his. Claws scratched against the cave floor, and Araxion became aware of a faint blue glow a few steps in front of him. The blue drake struggled to her feet, and the twilight's blood ran cold. He stepped back, and the drake's eyes fixed on him, silent and unreadable.

"I didn't do this," Araxion said, and it sounded so foolish, foolish to think it would help him any. "It was Ysera. Her tail."


	14. Fraternizing With the Enemy

"I didn't do this. It was Ysera. Her tail."

Had Virigosa not been so dazed, she might've taken the opportunity to kill the twilight right then and there. _Of course_ it was Ysera's tail. However, she had not yet recovered from the shock of the crash, and this drake had just shattered one of her most basic assumptions about the Twilight Dragonflight. She sat back, her jaw slightly parted, her tail motionless on the ground.

"You can talk?" Virigosa asked.

The twilight dragon seemed taken aback. "Uhm...yes." He stammered.

Virigosa once again recalled the morning that Alexstrasza had arrived at Hyjal, and the drake that she had slain. She was not afraid, somehow. This twilight dragon was just as scared as she was- no, even more scared. He wouldn't try to start a fight with Virigosa unless he was exceptionally foolish.

"Do you have a name, then?" she asked, her head tilted.

"Yes, of course," he answered, giving Virigosa the strangest look. "It's Araxion. I'm Araxion."

"Oh," she said. "I just thought..."

Virigosa trailed off, looking over the drake's dark form. He was not trying to fight her, so why wasn't she taking advantage of the opportunity? He was a twilight drake, her sworn enemy, standing foolishly like a lamb ready for the slaughter. Yet he did not seem like the monster Virigosa had always imagined. He could talk. He had a name. Did they think and dream and love as all other dragons did? How many had Virigosa slaughtered, thinking them little more than beasts?

 _At least with the Red Dragonflight, I knew that they were just like me._

"And you?" Araxion interrupted her train of thought. "What's your name?"

"Virigosa," she answered, automatically.

She almost immediately began to regret it, because Araxion flinched, recoiling backward, staring at her as though she were some sort of freak. "That's nice... you know, a nice name." He was stammering again. "That looked like a hard fall. Are you alright?"

The strangest warm feeling flooded through Virigosa when he asked that, a sort of joy. _He is twilight, not to be trusted._ "I think my leg and tail might be broken," Virigosa said.

"Not that bad, then," Araxion said, nodding in Virigosa's directions. "I think we're trapped in here. Look."

Cautiously, Virigosa turned her head for a moment. The only source of light, apart from her runes and Araxion's eyes, was creeping into the cave through a rocks, stacked on top of each other all the way to the cave roof. They looked like they had just fallen, not yet set in their positions.

"I don't know how either of us survived that," Araxion said. "You look like you had it worse than me, though."

"Slowfall," Virigosa said. "All blue dragons are taught it as whelps. Probably saved my life. Dragons don't usually fall unless we're too weak to fly, much less cast spells- you must know that- so it doesn't usually do any good. This time, it did."

"Must've saved me too, then," the twilight said. "We were fighting, we had to have been right next to each other."

"We're both lucky," Virigosa said. "You're smaller than me, too. Maybe that helped."

Briefly, Virigosa wondered if maybe she and Araxion could've been friends, had they been born on the same side. Almost immediately, she regretted the thought. _It could very well be a trick,_ she noted. _Why else would a twilight want to talk to a blue drake?_ But at the same time, she somehow wanted Araxion to be genuine. She almost wished that she could be friends with this twilight drake she had just met, who most certainly did not seem like a monster.

 _Not a monster doesn't mean not an enemy,_ she reminded herself.

"Why are you even talking to me?" Virigosa asked, a clear accusation to her voice. "Only minutes ago, we'd have killed each other, so why are you talking to me now?"

Araxion was quiet for a few moments, clearly debating with himself. "I've done something like this before. I met one of our spies. A blue drake," he admitted, and then he went on, the words spilling from his mouth. "He knew you."

Virigosa's blood ran cold, and her feet felt frozen to the ground. "A blue drake?" she demanded. "Who knows _me_?"

"His name is Eyrigos," Araxion blurted out, his tail twitching back and forth nervously. "He, well... He wanted to talk more than anything. And he told me about you, about the Nexus War."

"Eyrigos?" Virigosa echoed, her voice harsh. She would've lunged forward, pinning Araxion beneath her claws, if it weren't for her injured hind leg. " _Eyrigos_ is a traitor? _Eyrigos_?"

"He says he'd rather see the world burn than see mortals continue to misuse magic." The words kept spilling from Araxion's mouth. "And... I know a drake. A friend of mine. You killed a close friend of hers, and she has a grudge against the Blue Dragonflight now. That's the only reason I attacked you. Because she saw blue and she wanted blood. She didn't even think it was going to be you."

 _What are the odds?_ That was Virigosa's only coherent thought, her mind racing. Eyrigos, of all people. During the Nexus War, he had been one of the most dedicated to the cause, one of the strongest believers in Malygos's goals and the means to acheive them. How could he possibly be a traitor?

"I've said too much," Araxion said, lowering his head.

Virigosa shook her head. "I will deal with him, I'll deal with Eyrigos."

"No, you don't get it," Araxion curled his tail tightly around his feet. "I shouldn't have said that. You're not twilight."

"I understand perfectly," Virigosa said coldly. "Araxion, you are most kind. I appreciate what you've done for me."

If this was a trick, Araxion had certainly been the wrong dragon to pick. His spilling of twilight secrets seemed incredibly genuine, and Virigosa had every intention to act on the information that he provided.

Araxion looked clearly distressed, and for a moment, just a moment, Virigosa felt a pang of sympathy. She turned to the blocked cave entrance, preparing to take a step towards it, then turned around again to face Araxion. "What's it like?" she asked.

"What?" Araxion tilted his head.

"Being twilight," she said. "A twilight drake."

Araxion hesitated a moment, then shook his head. "I don't know anything else," he said. "I've never been anything but twilight. But I wouldn't have it any other way. The other flights just seem... I don't know. Sad. Pitiful."

"Really..." Virigosa's voice was hardly more than a murmur, and she lowered her head for just a moment. "Do you ever regret killing others? Do you ever feel bad about it? Guilty?

Araxion turned his head to the side, and Virigosa got the sense that he was feeling quite vulnerable. "I don't know, why are you asking me?" His voice was a bit sharp now, defensive. "Do _you_?"

Now it was Virigosa's turn to look away, before raising her head high and fluffing out her wings just a bit. "No," she said. "Of course not."

It was quiet in the cave, the silence broken only by breathing and by Araxion's claws scratching anxiously against the cave floor. Outside, the sounds of battle were already fading, and Ysera's great wingbeats had disappeared into the distance.

"We should go." Virigosa walked towards the fallen stones, and pushed at one with a front foreleg. She exhaled deeply, and looked back to the twilight. "Would you help me? I can't steady myself enough to push it with my leg."

"Yes," Araxion said. He moved to help, and the rocks fell down the cliff fairly quickly. "Will you be punished for leaving with me?" he asked.

Virigosa shook her head. "I have no commander and no aspect," she said.

He nodded, and pushed off from the side of the cave. "Farewell," he said, and then he was gone.

Virigosa waited in the cave for a moment, then she took off, too, back to Nordrassil.


	15. A Step Towards Fate

_You should've killed her._

It played in his head, over and over, and he had no intention to silence the thought. _What kind of twilight are you?_ he wondered. _To just let her go. And get one of our spies killed in the process, nonetheless. She was injured, it would've been_ easy _, so easy._

Araxion's flight back to the twilight camp was taken alone, the battlefield already mostly empty. The few green drakes that remained were medics, tending to the fallen, and they let him pass as long as he kept a wide berth. They didn't want any more trouble than he did. It was incredible how quickly the battle had cleared, really, but all twilights knew better than to try and take on an aspect. Maybe if there were no other dragons to deal with, or if they had the Destroyer himself to back them up.

Araxion flew into the twilight camp quietly, the skies above unusually empty. He scanned below until he found the familiar colors of Sariona, who, as she often was these days, alone in a quiet part of the camp. He swooped down to meet her, kicking up a bit of dust. She looked up, her face sullen. Then, for a moment, she looked elated, far happier than Araxion had seen her since they were training under Esteria, before she forced herself to put on her characteristic poker face.

"Araxion," she growled, "What took you so long?"

 _She was worried about me._ The thought made him so happy, so pleased that the old Sariona was still there. Then it occurred to him: _She wouldn't be if she really knew why- she'd hate me. I let Kasiona's killer get away._

"I couldn't dodge Ysera's tail," he said. "I got knocked down, and it took me a while to find my way back. But I'm okay."

"You look a little banged up," she said.

"I'm fine," he said. "I landed in water, I'm fine. Don't need any sort of medical attention."

"You better not, do you know how busy everyone is?" Sariona sounded unusually irritable, Araxion noted.

 _Don't let her know,_ Araxion reminded himself, the scenes from the cave playing in his head. There was a little voice of doubt in the back of his mind. _But shouldn't I, though? Aren't you supposed to report traitors? Well, I don't think there's ever really_ been _a traitor to the twilight cause. Everyone is so devoted._

He couldn't stop criticizing himself. _I don't know how devoted_ I _am, after what I demonstrated to myself. Stupid. I can't believe I was so stupid._

Without either drake noticing, an even larger drake had landed alongside them. "Araxion? Sariona?" he asked.

After a moment, Araxion recognized him from the first camp they'd been stationed at. "Yorion," he greeted. "It's been a while."

"I'll take that as a yes," the larger drake said. "They want you at the main tent as soon as possible. Both of you. Sounds like it's important."

"What could they want now?" Sariona grumbled.

Araxion shot her a sharp look, and lifted himself into the air. "We'll go as quickly as we can," he said.

The main tent- the whole camp, really- was surprisingly quiet considering the major battle that had just occurred. Hesitantly, the two drakes walked into the tent. The high priestess sat at a table, speaking with a few other high-ranking cultists. She stood up when she saw the two dragons approach, clapping. "Araxion and Sariona," she said. "It's good to see that you lived. Both of you, nonetheless."

Suddenly, Araxion had a bad feeling. That old, familiar cold feeling washed over him, stronger than it had since he was an egg, and something was just _wrong_.

"I do believe you both recall the visit you had with Kerelion and Lady Irissia," the high priestess said.

"Of course," Araxion nodded.

"I'm happy to tell you that you both have been selected for their purposes- Araxion for Kerelion, and Sariona for Lady Irissia," the high priestess announced. "I hope you're pleased, it's a great honor you've both been given."

Sariona bowed her head, and Araxion, after a moment, followed her lead. "We are honored, high priestess," Sariona said.

"Of course you are," the high priestess said. She walked to a table, pulling out two rolled up pieces of paper. "You two will be returning to the land of your birth- the Twilight Highlands- to prepare for your missions. You'll have a little bit more time together before you have to go your separate ways."

 _Separate ways,_ Araxion noted, and immediately, a sadness filled him. Perhaps it was naïve, but he had somehow always imagined that he and Sariona would always be together. It was difficult to think of them apart.

"Of course, high priestess," Sariona said, lowered herself to a bow. "It's an honor. We'll make you proud."


	16. Ending a Traitor

Virigosa landed on the ground, just a ways away from a medic tent. She had difficulty making the landing, her leg unsteady, but she hardly took note of it. Adrenaline was flowing through each and every vein, her mind on one thing and one thing only.

"Do you need any help with that leg or tail?" A little green drake, clearly rather young, had darted over to Virigosa.

"No," Her voice was emotionless. "I'm looking for someone else. A blue drake, like me, a male. A bit bigger... Well, around the same size as me, now."

The little drake shook her head. "I've seen another female blue," she offered.

Virigosa shook her head. "No," she said, and began to walk towards the main camp. She should have been limping, by all logic, but she hardly noticed her injuries. At the next medic camp, she had more luck. All-too-familiar blue scales peeked behind the tent curtain, assisting the green medics as they tended to the wounded. Virigosa could hardly believe her luck. _Of course he'd be away from the front lines,_ she noted, _but he gladly helps the medics to make himself seem loyal._

"Eyrigos!" Virigosa called.

He looked over, in confusion. "Sister." His greeting was that typically used upon meeting a fellow blue dragon for the first time.

Her head was spinning, having not thought of anything beyond this point. "I have a message," she lied, after a long pause. "From Arygos. It's urgent."

"Alright, then," he was clearly uneasy, but turned to his green companions. "You'll be fine with me gone?"

Virigosa walked deeper into the forest, out of sight and earshot of the medical tents. After a few moments, Eyrigos emerged into the clearing behind her. "What does Arygos need of me?" he asked.

"Eyrigos," Virigosa said, looking him over. "Do you recognize me?"

"No," he answered, tilting his head. "I don't believe we've met."

There was a blue flash, and in moments, Eyrigos's feet and wings were frozen to his body, locked in ice. It was one of the strongest spells Virigosa had ever used, and Eyrigos was taken by surprise, unable to counter. She walked up to him, satisfied, her breath already unnaturally cold as she readied her breath weapon.

"My name is Virigosa. Do you recognize me now?"

He pulled his head back, eyes widening. "I know Virigosa, you're not Virigosa," he spat. "She'll be out of the fight for a long, long time. What trickery is this?"

"I am Virigosa, dear old friend," she said. "I look different now- I can thank the Dragonqueen for that- but my memories are still the same. And I hold grudges, don't you remember that?"

Eyrigos understood now, and he unleashed his own breath attack, albeit weakly, in Virigosa's directions. "That same Dragonqueen that slayed your aspect and ordered the death of so many of your kin? So many of _our_ kin?"

Virigosa hesitated for just a moment. "You've always been a coward, Eyrigos, you know that? Resorting to cheap emotional tactics. Pathetic."

"Coward?" he snorted. "At least I'm not a sociopath. _I_ , unlike you, am actually capable of feeling _something_."

He could tell that struck a nerve, evident by the glee on his face. Virigosa stood in place, looking on emotionlessly. "I'm not a sociopath, Eyrigos," she replied.

"Are you saying that to convince me, or yourself?" he said. "I know you so well, Virigosa. I was at your side as you slaughtered dozens, maybe hundreds. I _watched_ you. Never any remorse, any second thoughts. You just loved the battle, loved the bloodshed. If you ever had any heart, it died a long time ago."

"You're a liar," Virigosa said.

"And look at you, the same as you've always been," he continued. "About to kill your best friend, your best friend for so many years. Your only concern is for yourself. You have no heart, Virigosa. No sympathy. No morals. You live for the bloodshed, for the thrill of the fight. Aren't you ashamed of yourself? What will you do when the war is over, when there's no one left to kill? Turn to your own kind, your own Blue Dragonflight? Excuse me, I've forgotten: you've set out to turn on members of your own flight already. Right here, right now."

"I brought you here so no one can hear you scream," Virigosa said.

"See?" he said. "You care only about yourself."

"I'm done listening to your little mind games, Eyrigos," she spat. "You know me too well. But you're a traitor, and this is where your story ends."

"So you've found out my little scheme," he said. "I know, Virigosa, these words will haunt you. The sight of my dead body. My last screams. You don't want to kill me, Virigosa."

She stepped forward again, and raked her talons across his wing just to hear him scream. The sound satisfied her, and she grabbed his head, putting her teeth deep in his throat. When she released it, his breaths were quick and shallow, and he was clearly not long for the world. The ice around him melted, and he crumpled to the ground, the blood beginning to stain the grass around him. It was strange, seeing Eyrigos dead, but she did not mourn. It was always meant to be.

 _I can't be seen like this._

To the greens, Eyrigos was still a friend, a close ally of the greens on Nordrassil. They did not know that he was a traitor. If they discovered that Virigosa had killed him, _she_ would be a fugitive, a traitor.

 _I can't stay here._

She rose to fly against the setting sun.


	17. End of Part One

**End of Part One**

The Twilight's Hammer sustained heavy casualties in their attempt to stop the rebirth of Cenarius, and the guardians of Hyjal once again gained the upper hand. The Twilight's Hammer and the forces of Ragnaros were pushed back into the western and southern parts of Hyjal. The Gates of Sothann, now home to one of Ysera's dreamgates, has been placed firmly in control of the Green Dragonflight, allowing forces to pass freely through the Emerald Dream between Hyjal, Moonglade, Wyrmrest Temple, and countless places across Azeroth.

Eyrigos's body was found cold, hours after he was killed. No murderer was ever found, and he went down in the books as a nameless, faceless victim of war, another life cut short presumably by a twilight assassin. Virigosa's return to Hyjal had not been recorded, and she returned to Wyrmrest Temple to heal without any suspicion.

Within Coldarra, unrest has only grown among the Blue Dragonflight. The battle between Arygos and Kalecgos for the title of "aspect" has grown hot and contentious, despite the Embrace still being a few months away. Rumors have grown of treason and deceit among the adult members of the flight, while the drakes participate in the war effort with the mortals and the Wyrmrest Accord.

Araxion and Sariona were stuck in the twilight camps for a few weeks, waiting for a safe route out of Hyjal. They were ultimately forced to take a route along the coast of Northrend, arriving in the Twilight Highlands after a week to await their new duties. While the Red Dragonflight's attempts to battle the twilight forces in the highlands have been valiant, they've proved futile. In their domain, the Twilight's Hammer has been unstoppable.

Members of the Twilight Dragonflight have been sent to an area near the Maelstrom, but the nearest known landmasses, the Broken Isles, have been mostly untouched due to Deathwing's inability to enter the islands. The belief is that the twilight forces have been attempting to enter Deepholm undetected, to keep the fight going. While the Earthern Ring has been winning in Deepholm, their forces in Vashj'ir have been routed, the naga strong in their domain.

Rumors swirl among both the dragons and their mortal allies, of long-forgotten allies and adversaries returning to the battlefield. In the chaos of war, one thing is clear: the fight has only just begun.


	18. Sariona's Side

_**You are home.**_

The whispers echoed in Sariona's head, as they did to all twilight dragons. She couldn't help but feel joy bubbling up as the familiar forests and valleys came into view below, Araxion just above and ahead of her. She felt an urge to swoop and dive and spin around in the air, to play with Araxion as she'd done under Esteria's tutelage. But it was all business now, no time for goofing off and acting like newborn drakes fresh from the egg.

 _I wish Kasiona could see this._

Almost as soon as it began to form, Sariona reprimanded herself for the thought. These days, it seemed, she could hardly go an hour without thinking of Kasiona. _Kasiona's dead and buried now. Give it up._ But Sariona couldn't get the thoughts out of her head, of Kasiona's pretty crimson-purple wings, the inky shimmer of her scales, that tone of voice she used when they were all alone together. _Give it up._

Sariona knew that it was never really love. It couldn't have been; just infatuation, the short-lived relationships characteristic of youth, cut even shorter by war. It had to be. Soon, Sariona was sure, she'd never think of Kasiona again. She'd be completely focused on the war, completely loyal to the Twilight's Hammer and to the Old Gods. Eventually, she was sure, she'd forget the name "Kasiona" entirely. That was how it was, it had to be.

 _ **The reds here keep up the fight, but their efforts are ultimately futile. Look, they fight, but twilight claws slice through them effortlessly. Twilight will consume all.**_

The words were comforting as Sariona and Araxion flew over the charred forest. The forest was once sacred to the Red Dragonflight, Sariona recalled, before the Black Dragonflight claimed it from them. It was so easy to take. If the Red Dragonflight couldn't defend their own strongholds, their own sacred spaces, how could they ever hope to defend all of Azeroth? Their efforts were futile, all of them. There was no chance at winning.

"Look at them," Sariona's voice was laced with contempt. "Pitiful."

"I see them," Araxion said. "Provided their aspect doesn't show up like Ysera did in Hyjal, I'd say there's not a chance we'll lose."

 _ **Alexstrasza? That cowardly 'queen'?**_ The whispers were indignant. _**She stands not a chance against the forces of twilight. She can't even protect her own brood! We have taken in her clutch and made them strong.**_

"She should thank us," Sariona said, taking her cue from the whispers. "Look how strong her children are among the forces of twilight."

Araxion paused for a moment, but agreed. "I've seen no red that can stand up to a twilight in battle," he said.

The great spire was visible now in the distance, the entrance to the Bastion of Twilight, accessible only on dragonback. It was the beautiful home of the Twilight Dragonflight, the place where both Sariona and Araxion were born, the place where thousands of twilight drakes were hatched and readied for war. Maybe "beautiful" was a stretch, but it was home and Sariona was reluctantly willing to admit, just to herself, that she missed it.

"It's been a long time," Araxion remarked, landing among the twilight tents on the ground.

"We've been out furthering a worthy cause," Sariona almost sounded defensive. "In the name of the Old Gods. There is no greater honor."

Araxion was quiet again, for a moment, his head lowered. "But don't you miss it, even a little bit?"

"Our cause honors me," Sariona answered, coldly.

Araxion shook his head and raised it to look around the camp. "See anyone who might be the taskmaster?"

"The high priestess said that he was a tall tauren," Sariona said. "So as far as I'm concerned, hundreds of people could be the taskmaster."

 _ **Hundreds, yes, hundreds.**_ **Thousands** _ **have heard our message, thousands are here to spread twilight and devour the world.**_

Mortal footsteps could be heard behind the drakes, and a cultist bowed his head respectfully. "You're looking for the taskmaster?" Sariona nodded, and the cultist continued. "He's just by the base of the Bastion, in his tent. You should have an appointment, though, or else he..."

Sariona didn't bother to listen, instead lifting off again. She gestured for Araxion to come and didn't waste any time in finding the tent. Araxion landed beside her, and they approached the front of the tent. A cultist stood guard outside the tent, holding a clipboard.

"Names, drakes?" the cultist asked.

"Sariona," she said, then gestured to her friend. "And this is Araxion."

The cultist, wordlessly, wrote something on the clipboard and gestured for the drakes to enter.

The tent was surprisingly empty, Sariona noted, a plain dirt floor with no furniture and a few smaller rooms of the tent blocked off by tarps. Only the main part of the tent was large enough for a drake. There was almost nobody else in the tent, either- Sariona could hear only the breathing of herself, Araxion, and one mortal.

One of the tarps flipped up and out walked a tauren, dressed in notably clean twilight garb. He clapped once at the sight of the drakes. "Araxion," he point as the drakes as he spoke, "And Sariona?"

"Correct," Sariona answered.

The taskmaster grinned. "I've been getting better at telling the difference between the dragon sexes," he said. "You all look the same as drakes."

Sariona flicked her tail with indignation, but let no other sign of her feelings show. "It's an honor to meet you, taskmaster." Araxion broke in, bowing. After a long moment of hesitation, Sariona bowed, too.

"No need for such pleasantries," the taskmaster said. "Let's get straight to business, shall we?"

Araxion inched a little bit closer to Sariona. _He's nervous, that coward._ She gently swatted him away with her tail, a gesture subtle enough to not catch the taskmaster's attention, and he looked at Sariona sadly.

"Araxion," the taskmaster began. "You've been selected for something very, very special. Lord Kerelion chose you for a project overseen by the Master- your father- himself, the details of which even I am unaware. As soon as this meeting is over, they'd like you to report to the Bastion. Lord Kerelion will guide you to your new quarters."

Sariona felt a sense of dread creeping up her spine, and she looked at Araxion. A feeling of concern welled up behind her blank expression, but she dispelled it almost as quickly as it came, refusing to acknowledge it, refusing to let herself feel it.

 _ **You will do well at the task she has chosen for you.**_

Almost on cue, in time with the whispers, the taskmaster continued. "Sariona, you have been chosen as the first of our drakes to work with our naga allies, under the best and brightest of naga sorceresses. The party will come to bring you to Nazjatar within a week or so. Consider yourself to have free roam over the twilight camps and the highlands until then, just don't get yourself killed. Do us proud."

 _The naga,_ Sariona thought. It was not particularly unexpected after the meeting, but her head was still swirling with questions. _Nazjatar. What do they want with a dragon?_

 _ **From dragons in skies to the deepest recesses of the sea, our influence is boundless.**_

"Good luck, both of you," the taskmaster said.

The drakes exited the tent, and almost immediately, Araxion turned to Sariona. "You're going to Nazjatar!" he said.

"Yes," Sariona was careful to add deliberate disinterest to her voice. "I am."

Araxion's excitement immediately began to dissipate. _Good. He's annoying when he does that anyways._

"And I'm going to meet the Master," he said. "You'll visit me before you leave, won't you?"

"Of course," Sariona said. "Of course."

"I'll go find Kerelion, then, unless there's anythng else you'd like to say," Araxion moved a little closer.

Sariona shook her head. "No, nothing."

Araxion stood looking at her for a while, hesitant to take off, then lifted himself into the sky.

* * *

 **A/N: While the story is mostly pre-written (at the point that this was published, I'm currently working on Chapter 26), but I haven't had time to go over the upcoming chapters and smooth out the narrative. As such, updates are probably going to come slowly for a little while.**


	19. Status Report

"My Queen, Anachronos is here to see you."

"I've been expecting him. Send him in."

The Life-Binder sat in her humanoid form upon an ornate red couch. This room of the temple was furnished and oddly small, unlike many draconic dwellings, seemingly intended for mortals. In reality, this was one of Wyrmrest Temple's newest and best-equipped meeting rooms, designed for dragons in mortal form to securely discuss the planet's safety and future. Right now, however, the red aspect was alone, all her guards having been sent to the room's entrance.

A familiar figure strode into the room, a high elf adorned in golden robes favored by the Bronze Dragonflight. He surveyed his surroundings, then bowed briefly before the Dragonqueen, smiling warmly. "Alexstrasza. It's been too long."

"Or is this the first time we've met?" the Life-Binder teased. "It has been too long. It's good to see you again, Anachronos. How have you been faring?"

"You know my kind too well," Anachronos said. He sat down just across from the red aspect. "I've been well, all things considered. Better than you, I suspect."

"It's been hard," she admitted. "I've never liked being stuck in this tower while Azeroth burns. But I'm no fool. I know what needs to be done."

Anachronos nodded slowly. "We would be lost without you," he murmured.

"I know." Alexstrasza's tone suddenly became much more businesslike. "What's the status of the Bronze Dragonflight?"

"Most of our resources are dedicated to fending off the Infinite Dragonflight. Their attacks have become more and more relentless since Deathwing returned," Anachronos said. "We're sending as many of our forces as we can spare, but there's not much we can. Two more of our drake squads should have arrived here yesterday."

"They did," Alexstrasza confirmed. She tapped her claws on the armrest, seemingly in thought. "The Blue Dragonflight isn't offering any official support. They can't, without an official leader."

"Our intelligence suggests that Kalecgos will become the next Aspect of Magic," the bronze wyrm said. "Arygos is widely supported among the traditionalist wing of the Blue Dragonflight, but our agents in the Blue Dragonflight suggest that that traditionalist wing of the flight is far smaller than most believe. Once the Embrace comes, Kalecgos should be willing to commit large amounts of dragons to the war effort."

"I've heard the same," the Life-Binder said. "But Arygos, as the most senior son of Malygos, has the fervent loyalty of most of the surviving members of Malygos's special forces. He's committed a few to the war effort, but it's token support more than anything. And it's not _official_ support."

"I heard you got quite an earful from him after one of them was killed," Anachronos commented. "I believe his name was Eyrigos?"

"Don't get me started," Alexstrasza shook her head. "I regret the loss, but this is war. Arygos needs to understand that. I hate to say it, but we can't save everyone. And it's not my flight's responsibility to protect his favorites."

Anachronos nodded. "His reaction is proof more than anything that he's not really on our side. He just wants power. But if all goes well, we won't have to worry about him. I think our main concern would be that Arygos might attempt a coup. He may not have the support of most of the flight, but with the flight's special forces in his pocket and some of the most powerful wyrms at his side-"

"I'm inclined to believe even their loyalty is less solid than Arygos would like to believe," Alexstrasza interjected. "Blue drakes are helping the Wyrmrest Accord in very large numbers, as expected. But the Red Dragonflight has received a number of under the table offers of support from both Malygos's special forces and some of the flight's most influential wyrms. Tyrigosa and a few special forces drakes, independent of Arygos, are the only notable blues who have openly pledged themselves to the Wyrmrest Accord, but there's a lot more who are ready to help us once the aspect situation is resolved."

"That's good to hear," Anachronos said. "It won't be long before we have most of the Blue Dragonflight on board, then."

"Yes. And when it comes to the others, I can't hold your flight's situation against you," Alexstrasza said. "My flight's status is well-known. My sister, with Hyjal mostly secured, is able to promise us more of her dragons than ever, although they remain preoccupied with the Nightmare. The mortals, though... Hyjal was the main site of cooperation between dragons and mortals. But both major factions are determined to protect their cities. I don't blame them, but that means most of our assistance will come from smaller groups like the Earthen Ring."

"Mortals fight in different ways than we do," Anachronos noted. "No dragon is a civilian. Every one of us can and will fight when it comes to that. Mortals, though... they have non-combatants that they have to protect. We can't rely on their support when it becomes especially difficult."

"Yes," Alexstrasza agreed. She traced a carved pattern on her couch's armrest and sighed before once again meeting Anachronos's eyes. "Have any of your flight seen Nethandris?"

Anachronos paused for a moment, then shook his head slowly. "She'll never help us," he said. "It doesn't matter."

"It's been fourteen thousand years, Anchronos, and she helped during the War of the Ancients," Alexstrasza pointed out. "We have to try. Either way, I'm not so concerned about what she thinks of us. I just don't want Deathwing getting his talons on her brood."

"Your sister would know better than I do," Anachronos said. "I think we should focus on the situation with the Blue Dragonflight for now. I do think there's a very real possibility that Arygos could try to launch a coup after a Kalecgos victory."

"I don't think there's much we can do," the Life-Binder said. "Most of the Blue Dragonflight is on shaky terms with the rest of dragonkind already. Not only does my flight have so few resources to spare, the blues would resent us for sending in forces to deal with their internal affairs, even if it turns bloody before we arrive."

"We can't risk the blues having a civil war," Anachronos said. "We need them fully behind us, even with how small their numbers already are, or our chances against Deathwing and the Twilight Dragonflight are going to be far worse."

"I think we'll only make it worse," Alexstrasza said. "I agree with you, one hundred percent, but I don't think we can risk interfering in flight politics. We just need to hope it all goes well."

"There isn't enough hope to go around these days."

"As sad as it is. On a lighter note, Ysera's dreamgate network has been allowing us to very efficiently transport rations to the front lines..."

* * *

 **A/N: So. Funny story. While on hiatus, my computer died, and with it everything I had for this story, including the outline for the next 20 or so chapters. Oops. While I remember the major plot points, this means that I'm going to be doing something very different for the story than what I had planned. I was going to overhaul what I had originally done for Part 2, and now that I've lost all that writing anyways, I can just scrap the whole thing with no regrets.**

 **My original intentions for the story were very different from the direction it's going to go in now. In particular, the last chapter, from Sariona's perspective, was meant to lead into two story arcs, one focusing on Sariona and one focusing on Araxion, and this current chapter was meant to introduce Virigosa's story for Part 2. Sariona's intended storyline has been mostly sidelined for the time being, Araxion's has been heavily expanded upon, and Virigosa's will be completely different. Instead, this chapter was a way to introduce a few new plot lines and ideas that will be important to the new direction of the story. Everything in the last chapter still happened, this just means that some things may not be brought up again for a while. I may also go back and edit some very minor details in previous chapters, particularly regarding how much the Blue Dragonflight has been supporting the Wyrmrest Accord, just to keep the story consistent.**

 **On a somewhat related note, Virigosa's power level has been brought up. This was intended from the beginning (particularly her ability to take on Sariona, Araxion, and Eryigos; some things, like Eryigos's comments, were intentionally exaggerated by the characters in question). Due to the new storyline, that's going to be addressed very soon.**


	20. Catching Up With Virigosa

When Virigosa was put in charge of a group of red drakes, she was less than thrilled.

With the Blue Dragonflight too busy choosing a new leader to pledge official support, Virigosa had used a loophole to officially participate in the battles on Mount Hyjal. While not a green dragon herself, she was able to, in a technicality, declared herself an associate of the Green Dragonflight to receive an official assignment. Of course, after her camp was destroyed, she had been mostly released from her official obligations, but that meant that after the situation in Hyjal had died down, she had to find somewhere else to fight. So, she returned to Wyrmrest Temple, and this time declared herself an associate of the Red Dragonflight. The choice wasn't very difficult- the Red Dragonflight was fighting in more places than any other dragonflight, and after her experience being healed by Alexstrasza, Virigosa felt she was indebted to them, to an extent.

This, of course, meant that she was placed under the Red Dragonflight's chain of command. Virigosa was assigned to the red wyrm Taelastrasza, a respected strategist and the commander of the Red Dragonflight's activities in the Wetlands. She had no issue with that, and was proud to serve under such a renowned general. That was, until Taelastrasza decided that Virigosa should lead a small red dragon strike team. It didn't seem that bad, at first, but there were the obvious issues with putting a blue drake in charge of three red drakes.

The most obvious issue, of course, was the rough relationship between the Red and Blue Dragonflights in the past few years. These particular drakes, however, had never served on the front lines of the Nexus War, and they were willing to take orders from a former enemy, hesitant as they might be. Not long after meeting them, however, Virigosa discovered that red drakes found a blue dragon's accent to be both funny and difficult to understand. In the beginning, almost anything she said was met with snickers and confused looks.

It wasn't a hopeless venture, however. Before long, Taelastrasza began giving them real assignments, and that was when their work truly begun.

Most of their tasks involved clearing out small cultist camps, something that was hardly a challenge for dragons capable of breathing fire and frost. A few short weeks after Virigosa arrived, Taelastrasza tasked the drakes with retrieving information from a Kaldorei outpost in the Wetlands. It was a simple enough task, but a welcome change of pace from raiding Twilight's Hammer camps.

"Did they really need to send four drakes to collect a few documents?" Erastrasza, one of Virigosa's dragons, asked.

"It makes sense," Virigosa pointed out. "I speak Darnassian, but I'm not exactly a model representative for the Red Dragonflight. By sending red drakes, the night elves know we come from Taelastrasza."

"Assuming they can even understand a word you're saying," Another drake, Torystrasz, chimed in. "Because I sure can't."

"Very funny," Virigosa said. "Have you ever heard a blue dragon speak Darnassian, Torystrasz? The elves love it."

"Like hell they do," Torystrasz said.

The four drakes landed a short distance away from the gates to the outpost. After steadying herself on the ground, Virigosa shapeshifted into her humanoid form, a night elf obviously recognizable as a blue dragon from her brightly colored hair and robes. The three reds, who were young and had not yet learned a humanoid form, walked a short distance behind her. A few sentinels were there to meet them at the gates. The one in front bowed, taking a few steps forward to meet them.

"You must be the drakes Lady Taelastrasza promised," The sentinel swept her gaze over the dragons, her eyes lingering on Virigosa for a moment. "Thank Elune you're here."

"Yes, we are. I'm Virigosa; the reds are Erastrasza, Torystrasz, and Zeistrasz," Virigosa said. "Is something wrong? Taelastrasza said we were here to pick up some documents."

"You'll see," the sentinel said. "Follow me."

Virigosa gestured to her drakes as the sentinel began to walk. The drakes followed, with Erastrasza and Torystrasz leaning in to whisper something to each other. Zeistrasz walked up alongside Virigosa. "What did she say?" he asked.

"Something isn't right," Virigosa said in Draconic, turning around so Erastrasza and Torystrasz could hear her as well. "It sounds like something's wrong, but she just said to follow her."

"Do you think they might turn on us?" Erastrasza asked.

"I don't know," Virigosa replied. "It could be anything."

The sentinel lead the drakes to a tower that was home to a moonwell. She stopped and turned to face the group. "My apologies, mi'lady, but this building is only meant to house humanoids," she said. "The others will not be able to remain in their dragon forms."

"My drakes have not yet learned how to take on a humanoid form," Virigosa said. The sentinel nodded. "Where are you taking me? If it's the top of the tower, that won't be a problem."

"I am," the sentinel confirmed. "Follow me."

Virigosa nodded, and turned back to the reds. "Fly up to the top of the tower alongside us," she said.

"You don't trust her?" Zeistrasz said.

"I do," Virigosa said. "But I want you up there too."

The blue drake and the sentinel ascended the tower. At the top, an elf in priestess robes stood behind a table covered in papers. A few more sentinels stood behind her, holding glaives and looking out over the Wetlands. The red drakes had already flown up, and they hovered around the open parts of the tower, watching Virigosa and the elves.

"Sister, this is Lady Virigosa," the sentinel said. "They come from Lady Taelastrasza."

"Lady Virigosa," the priestess said slowly, looking her over and glancing back at the red drakes. "You are... not what I expected, when Lady Taelastrasza said she was sending drakes."

"I am a friend of the Red Dragonflight," Virigosa said.

"So you are," the priestess said. "We've been waiting for you. Come."

The priestess walked to the tower's railing, and Virigosa stepped around the table to follow her. The elf gestured out at the world outside, to the swamps and to the nearby mountains that separated the Twilight Highlands from the Wetlands. Virigosa leaned against the side, breathing in the cold air, and turned to look at the Priestess of the Moon.

"Do you see those mountains over there, Lady Virigosa?" the priestess asked, pointing to one of the closer mountainsides, just beyond a group of trees. "I sent a group of sentinels to patrol that area this morning. Only one returned, and her reports were... disturbing, to say the least."

The priestess left the railing and began to pace a little. Virigosa's gaze traced her- she was content to listen. "They came across a... cave, she said, populated by Twilight's Hammer cultists. Not unusual, my sentinels have run across such settlements before. But this one was different. When they saw the telltale signs of twilight occupation, they went into the cave to investigate. And inside, they found... how do I say this? They found a new breed of dragon the Twilight's Hammer was creating."

"The Twilight Dragonflight?" Virigosa asked.

"No, we know about those," The priestess shook her head. "They were something... else. Monsters. My sentinel who was able to return wasn't able to describe them. But the rest of them are still missing. Lady Virigosa, please..."

Virigosa had turned her head away from the priestess, staring out at the landscape and in the direction that the priestess had pointed to. She sighed, tapping her fingers on the rail, and was silent for several long moments. Finally, she sighed and turned around to face the night elf.

"You lied to Taelastrasza," Virigosa said. "Why?"

"Please, my lady, it was urgent, and I knew Taelastrasza wouldn't come in time if we told her about what was really happening," the night elf said. "I do have documents for you, afterwards. But this was why I requested multiple drakes to come to pick them up."

"Night elf, are you aware of the long and storied history between our people?" Virigosa asked, pushing herself off the railing and standing to confront the priestess. "I have difficulty understanding what you thought you would achieve. Had you told the truth, Taelastrasza would have sent much more than four drakes to help you. I hope you realize that she has ways to tell Shandris Feathermoon that you've lied to us."

"Any help she would've sent if we told the truth would've taken too long. My sentinels would be dead," the priestess explained. "She would've wanted to understand the full situation first. Please, you're here. You know this needs to be done."

"As she should," Virigosa said. She shook her head, stepping over the railing of the watchtower onto one of the support beams. Perhaps it looked risky for a moment, but her intentions were made clear when she shapeshifted back into her true form. "Elune-adore, priestess."

The night elf called after her, but the blue drake was moving away from the tower. With a sweep of her tail, she gestured for her drakes to come to her.

* * *

"She lied to us?" Erastrasza said, puzzled. "That makes no sense."

"I know," Virigosa said. "But she's right. We need to find out whatever the Twilight's Hammer was up to. If they're creating another new breed of dragon, that's serious. And since the sentinels stumbled upon them, they might already be moving their operations. I hate to do what she wants, but we have to act."

"I think we should go back and tell Taelastrasza before we do anything," Torystrasz said. "Just in case. And so we can get some help."

"There's no time, we have to do it now or we might lose them," Virigosa said. "Zeistrasz, I want you to go back and inform Taelastrasza of what's happened. Erastrasza, Torystrasz, you're with me. We're going to end this."

Hesitantly, Zeistrasz flew back off in the direction of Taelastrasza's central camp. Virigosa flew off towards the cave that the priestess had pointed out, the other two drakes not far behind her.

The cave would've been difficult to find had they not been looking for it. It was hidden behind a few trees, and a nearby waterfall would likely capture the attention of most people who visited the area. Virigosa and the two reds located the cave rather quickly, and Virigosa was the first to step inside. It was poorly lit and eerily quiet inside, with a faint but constant dripping sound echoing in the cavern. Virigosa drew energy from the ley lines and wove it into a spell, illuminating the cave in a pale bluish light.

"Stay alert," she said in a whisper.

They came to a point where the cave forked into two paths, and Virigosa laid an arcane rune on the floor. She wasn't sure how deep the cave might be, and wanted to be able to find her way back. The three drakes crept onward in the illuminated cave, eventually emerging into a large chamber. Virigosa's light spell was beginning to fade, so she paused to pull together more arcane energy and recreate it.

"Virigosa, look out!" Erastrasza called.

Before she knew it, Virigosa had been tackled by another dragon, and was rolling across the floor, talons locked with them. It was clear that this other drake had no experience or even training against other dragons. It was fairly easy for Virigosa to gain the upper hand, pinning the drake down against the cave floor, easily holding off their struggles to get back up.

Virigosa finished her spell, and looked around the room for any other dragons. Satisfied that it was clear, she turned back to her captive.

"Let me go... you bitch..." the drake growled.

Virigosa loosened her grip, but didn't release it. She recognized this type of dragon almost immediately- her flight had done much work studying its kind. But what was it doing _here_? If the Twilight's Hammer was doing experiments with this type of dragon... Well, the results could be _anything_ , really.

"The priestess was wrong," Virigosa said to the reds. "This is a Netherwing drake."

"Netherwing?" Torystrasz echoed.

"What's your name, drake?" Virigosa asked. "Are there more of you here?"

"I'm not telling you anything," the Netherwing drake said. He reached his tail up to try and smack Virigosa, but his tail had no weapon on the end like a normal dragon did. An interesting observation, Virigosa realized- despite the fact that it did no good, Netherwing drakes still had the instinct to use their tail as a weapon.

"If you come with me and my friends here, I'll let you live," Virigosa promised. She loosened her grip on the dragon again.

"I'll sooner die than serve you!"

The Netherwing drake seemed to summon whatever remained of his strength, and he dragged himself out Virigosa's grip. Such a move left him bleeding, but regardless, he made another move to pounce on Virigosa. She leapt up, snagging her talons in his skin, and almost seemed to rip him apart. Netherwing drakes were surprisingly light and fragile compared to normal dragons.

Erastrasza and Torystrasz watched, frozen in horror and grim fascination. They had never killed another dragon before, nor had they ever watched another dragon as they were killed like that.

"It's a dead end," Virigosa said. "Let's go back along the other path. At least now we know what to look for."

They arrived at the end of the other passage, where it seemed that everything had been left in a hurry. The bodies of sentinels were scattered across the cavern floor, as were strange bits and pieces of eggshell. They had to have come from Netherwing whelps. Several cages were scattered across the room, and a few tables seemed to have been hesitantly pushed against the walls. A few beds were lined up in a corner. There were few other signs that there had once been life here.

"So much for the priestess's sentinels," Erastrasza said, gesturing to one of the bodies.

"It's a shame for them, but there are more important things to worry about," Virigosa said. "Look at the egg fragments. They must've been running some sort of breeding operation here."

"They left everything in a hurry," Torystrasz noted.

"And it looks like they took all their records with them." Virigosa was looking over a table, lifting it with one of her forelegs.

After a few more minutes of searching, they returned to the surface. After shaking the dirt off, Virigosa lifted herself back into the sky. "Come on. We need to tell Taelastrasza about this."


	21. Mistresses

If there was one thing Sariona had come to realize in the time since arriving in the Twilight Highlands, it was that life in the Bastion of Twilight was _boring_. On Mount Hyjal and on the flight back to the highlands, there was always that sense of danger, that chance for combat that Sariona hadn't realized until now that she loved. There was nothing physically stopping her from leaving and joining the fight- in fact, she had been told she had free roam of the Twilight Highlands- but reason held her back. She had been sent to the Bastion of Twilight for an important purpose. The Masters knew best, they were sure to have a purpose for her here.

That purpose was made apparent a week after her arrival.

Sariona had been granted quarters all her own, a small tiled room with a pile of blankets for sleeping on. Most dragons and mortals alike would've taken issue with such a space, but for a member of the Twilight Dragonflight, a room of their own was a luxury. Sariona quickly became used to her privacy, and so it was a surprise when a smaller, younger drake stuck his head behind the curtain and looked in.

"Sariona?" he squeaked.

Her head shot up, fixing him with an icy stare. "What is it?"

 _ **He is afraid of you.**_

"I-I just..." The drake was stumbling over his words. "The Nazjatar party has requested your presence in th-the furthest chamber of the far north corridor, third level, near the ascendant research rooms..."

Sariona felt a chill sweep across her scales and through her body. She ignored it, forcing herself to her feet and offering the other drake a nod. "I will be there," she said.

The place that the younger drake had specified was not very far away from Sariona's quarters. Like many other parts of the Bastion of Twilight, this room had crumbling walls and the door was missing, allowing Sariona to slip through easily. The room was mostly bare of items, most of them likely having been repurposed long ago for the Twilight's Hammer's needs. In the center of the room was a group of three naga sorceresses, and an unfamiliar black drake who was hovering in the air.

As Sariona approached, the three naga bowed. The twilight drake hesitated, stopping in her tracks and glancing behind her to see if anyone else had come. By the time she turned her head back around, the naga had already risen back up, and the one in front was gesturing her closer. The black drake seemed to be bored with the proceedings, her eyes fixed on the naga rather than watching the twilight drake approach.

"Lady Sariona, it's an honor," the sorceress in the center said.

Sariona offered a small bow herself, then shook her head. "The honor is mine," she said. "No need to refer to me as 'lady'."

"It is an order from our mistress, exalted be her name," another sorceress said. "She has styled you Lady Sariona, and so thus shall we refer to you."

 _ **Azshara is a worthy servant. She will make you strong.**_

"I have heard many things about your mistress," Sariona said. "Assuming she is who I believe she is."

"The honored Queen Azshara of the Naga, Empress of Nazjatar and rightful Empress of Kalimdor, Light of Lights," the naga said. The black drake was glaring at the sorceress, flicking her tail with annoyance.

 _ **The naga put great value in silly titles. But they are useful enough.**_

"It is my honor to serve her, then," Sariona said.

"In more important news," the black drake cut in. "Sariona, you're here to begin the first step of your journey to Nazjatar. Some preparation is required before you're presented to Queen Azshara."

"Yes," the third sorceress added. "Our Queen wishes for you to learn magic, and so we will teach you the basics. When you arrive in Nazjatar, she will tutor you personally. Until then, however, in order to survive underwater, alterations will have to be made to your body. That's going to be one of our main responsibilities."

"And you will need to learn how to use a humanoid form. That's why I'm here," the black drake said. "You'll be learning how to shapeshift into a naga."

That was a surprise. Sariona contemplated what she had been told. Learning magic, being tutored by Queen Azshara... it all sounded very exciting. But what could Azshara possibly want with _her_? Araxion made sense, with his pedigree. Sariona was a bronzeborn twilight of uninteresting parentage, who had never cast a spell in her life.

 _ **By becoming twilight, you have risen above the imperfections of your ancestors.**_

Yes, yes... that much was true.

"It's an honor," Sariona said. "I look forward to it."

"Let's get started then, shall we?" the black drake said.

* * *

"Kerelion, we have something we think you might find interesting," the cultist said.

The black wyrm was in his humanoid form, sitting behind a desk. His gaze rose from the papers scattered across his desk, and he addressed the messenger. "Yes?"

"Our recruiters in Stormwind were recently approached by an individual claiming to be a half-green, half-blue drake," the cultist said. "He's a disgruntled outcast, rejected by his flights, and has pledged himself to our cause. Sintharia believes that you may find use for him."

That did pique Kerelion's interest. A number of dragons from other flights had joined the forces of twilight, far more and in more positions of power than the Wyrmrest Accord would like to believe, but dragons of mixed-flight heritage were extraordinarily rare. While Nefarian had produced such dragons, not even he had ever managed to track down one that was born to willing parents.

"For the chromatic project?" Kerelion guessed. "Studying a stable hybrid might be useful for our research."

"If you want," the cultist shrugged. "Sintharia is letting you decide what to do with him. He claims to have knowledge of blue dragon experiments- he mentioned Eszragos- and I think that's what she had in mind."

"That research is our top priority right now," Kerelion confirmed. "Send him in."

* * *

It was when they started talking about dissecting him that he knew he was in trouble.

Next time the mistress wanted information from the Black Dragonflight, he would have to remind her to send a dragon that _wasn't_ mixed-flight. When the cultists started talking about the... creative experiments they could do to him, that was when he started coming up with bullshit to feed them. And it seemed to have worked. In fact, it seemed to have worked _too well_ , because now they were taking him to meet the next Nefarian. Or something like that. A part of him didn't want to know the details.

It wasn't that hard, really. Just spew a bunch of mage babble, and drop names like Balacgos and Eszragos, and an unassuming hybrid drake could fool the Black Dragonflight into thinking he's some kind of genius. Maybe the Lady consider _that_ valuable intelligence. Sending him into the Bastion of Twilight with only a vague plan and a questionable means of escape... Titans, he should've flayed her for even suggesting it.

But no. Here he was, betting his life on this "Kerelion" believing his story.

The cultists shuffled him in through the door and left him standing before a desk. The room was a mess, with papers littering the floor and scattered across the desk. He would have to sneak a look when he got a chance. Behind the desk, staring at him through narrow eyes, could be none other than Kerelion. The black wyrm was in his humanoid form, dressed as one would expect of the Black Dragonflight.

The mixed-flight drake threw his body into a deep bow, and began putting on the act. "Sir! Lord! Sir! It's my honor to serve you, honored Lord Kerelion, sir."

The black dragon snickered, and leaned across the table to get a better look. "Rise. There's no need for such formalities. What's your name, drake?"

"T-T-Tealgos, sir." Next time the Lady sent him on a mission, he would most certainly _not_ be letting her pick his alias.

"Your parents certainly had a sense of humor, didn't they?"

The mixed-flight drake nodded enthusiastically. "They were fools, sir. That's part of why I was born."

"I see that," Kerelion paused for a moment to shake his head and take down a few notes. "I've been told you're familiar with experiments performed by the wyrm Eszragos."

"Yes, Lord Kerelion sir, that's correct," He paused for a moment, and decided he was feeling lucky. "My auntie was one of his mistresses."

"You're serious."

"That's what my mother told me, sir. Eszragos is notorious among the Blue Dragonflight for his promiscuity."

The black wyrm leaned back, shook his head, and took a few moments to collect himself. "But what about his experiments? What do you know about his experiments?"

"To be honest, sir, mostly rumors," Best downplay his credibility to cover his ass. "But very reliable rumors. And the basics. He was given eggs from various lines, and used the Nexus and specialized spell foci to create some of the most powerful drakes the Blue Dragonflight has seen."

"Yes, that's correct," Kerelion said. "And what happened to his research during the Nexus War?"

Kerelion was testing him, he had to be. _Just don't say anything that's plain wrong._ "Well, Eszragos fell early in the war, during one of the first battles. Malygos took his research and tried to empower more whelps using his method, but was foiled by the Red Dragonflight. As for the drakes that Eszragos empowered, they made up the bulk of the Blue Dragonflight's special forces."

Kerelion nodded, slowly. "I know this. Tell me more."

"Well, in the Nexus War, most of them died," This much he didn't have to make up. "But the survivors were wildly successful. Many of them are war heroes. Mensagosa, for example, despite being only a drake, is very well-respected and politically powerful within the Blue Dragonflight."

"We've been monitoring the Blue Dragonflight's Aspect selection process, and some of Kalecgos's supporters have been calling her 'Arygos's attack dog'," Kerelion noted.

"Well, yes," he admitted. "She's a very strong supporter of his. And very strong. And very powerful. And very scary. Very, very scary."

"I suppose I'll get right to what we want," Kerelion said. "For one of our high-value projects, we've been looking to capture a live drake who was involved in Eszragos's experiments. We've been trying to find a suitable subject."

"Not me, sir. I was not involved in his experiments, sir. Please don't dissect me, Lord Kerelion sir."

"Not for this project," Kerelion said. "What do you know about where I can find one?"

"Most of them are within Coldarra, sir, as the Blue Dragonflight seeks to select a new Aspect. Most of them are strong supporters of Arygos, sir," He was still feeling lucky, and so the mixed-flight dragon ventured to add, "You'd have to ask him." Why didn't they? He knew, and Kerelion had to know that Arygos was working for Deathwing.

"I suspected as much," Kerelion said. He stepped out of his chair and began to walk around the mixed-flight drake, perhaps inspecting him. "But I believe you can be of use to us regardless. One of Eszragos's drakes is working with the Red Dragonflight in the Wetlands. Her name is Virigosa."

"Oh- sir, no, you're not going to pit me against another drake, are you sir?" he pleaded. "I don't fight, I'm more of a... science-and-magic type of dragon."

"You won't be fighting," Kerelion promised. "You're going to be our bait. I'll tell you more once we've settled on the details. What do you know about the spell foci Eszragos used?"

Kerelion and the mixed-flight drake spent another half an hour together in the office before Kerelion finally let him go. He was escorted back to his quarters by the cultists, and dropped back into his pile of blankets, relieved. Kerelion's plan could be his way out of the Bastion of Twilight. He felt so lucky, he would've gone to Dalaran and entered the lottery, if not for the fact that he at least a mile underground in the enemy's base.

He would have to send the Lady a message through the Emerald Dream about what had happened. No matter what, there was _no way_ he was ever going to be doing something like this again.


	22. Araxion's Purpose

After Araxion had been escorted to his headquarters, he saw not hide nor tail of Kerelion. In the black wyrm's absence, Araxion had spent his days chatting with his fellow drakes, some younger than him, some friends from his days under Esteria's tutelage. He hadn't been able to locate Sariona, although after coming back from Hyjal, he suspected that she needed time to herself anyways. He knew better than anyone that the campaign in Hyjal had been tough on her.

Finally, one morning, Araxion was roused by a familiar human shape. "Araxion," Kerelion said. "I apologize for the delay. I've been very busy these past few days."

"Lord Kerelion, I'm glad to see you," Araxion said. "The wait isn't a problem."

The black wyrm nodded. "Meet me in my office. We have much to discuss."

Araxion left his quarters after the black wyrm, having taken some time wake himself up properly. He had been to Kerelion's office once before, and it was not terribly far from his own quarters, just down the hall. The cultists guarding the door seemed to be expecting him, as they nodded and let him pass with little more than a look. Araxion slipped through the door and glanced around the room. It was far messier than he remembered, with papers scattered carelessly across the floor. Kerelion must not have been very keen on neatness for the past few days.

"Araxion," Kerelion was sitting behind his desk, a few sheets of paper in his hands. "It's about time we explained to you what's going on. Do you remember the first time we met, on Mount Hyjal?"

"Yes, Lord Kerelion," Araxion said.

"Drop the titles. You're reminding me of the naga," Kerelion said. "I said then that I was there on behalf of Deathwing himself. He ordered this project, and will be overseeing it personally. This is not just a continuation of Nefarian's or Sintharia's research, but everything they've done and then some."

"The honor isn't lost on me."

"Good. Araxion, do you know the characteristics of a proper dragonflight? A distinct appearance, a distinct sphere of power, and most importantly, an Aspect. A leader who possesses unimaginable power. The Twilight Dragonflight has two of the three."

Araxion felt a cold feeling sweep over him, that very same feeling he had had so often as an egg. This time, unlike it had been since he was in the egg, the source was clear- it was Kerelion. Something was _wrong_ with him, somehow, like something was wrong with Sintharia and Deathwing and the Faceless.

Whatever Araxion was feeling, clearly Kerelion couldn't tell, because he just continued on. "The Destroyer has ordered me to see to it that the ultimate twilight dragon is created. An Aspect of Twilight, a dragon with power that puts even the three remaining Aspects to shame. You, Araxion, will be that dragon. You will become Ultraxion."

Araxion stood there, lost in his thoughts, staring blankly at the black wyrm behind the desk. So many questions... But still, he couldn't shake off the feeling that something was wrong. This wasn't right. None of it was right. Had it _ever_ been right? _Just listen,_ he urged himself. _It'll all be fine. Just listen to him._

"I suppose I owe you an explanation as to how it's going to be done, before we get there," Kerelion said. "I'm not sure how much you know about how twilight dragons are created, so I'll give you the short version. Sintharia created the first twilight dragons from the essence of nether drakes. The results of her experiments, while powerful, were unstable. Your father, when he emerged from Deepholm, took interest in her research, and perfected the process used to create twilight dragons. To this day, the Twilight's Hammer breeds nether dragons for this process. Faceless corruptors absorb the essence of nether drakes, and use it to turn eggs twilight. Our cultists then use more specialized spells to ensure that the resulting eggs are stable, and to age them into drakes before they even hatch."

"That... I think I remember that."

"Good. Twilight dragons, in part because shadow magic kills the weak, tend to be slightly stronger than your average drake. However, it's due to the dangers of shadow magic that we're creating an Aspect from a drake rather than an egg. If we were to use a more crude method, like simply using more shadow, it would kill the egg. Pure arcane energy, from what we call the ley lines, can sometimes have the same effect on an unhatched whelp. However, a blue dragon named Eszragos discovered a way to engineer spell foci and incorporate them into the shell of an egg so that the whelp inside would be able to safely absorb it."

"So... You're going to try that on me?"

"In a way. One of our blue dragon contacts, a survivor of Eszragos's experiments, was able to give us the design used for the spell foci, but he died before we could get the other important parts of his information. My theory- as I've observed with blueborn twilight whelps- is that shadow magic, which twilight drakes are based upon, will assimilate arcane energy into itself. This idea is what our work hinges upon. We'll use multiple spell foci on you, and repeat the process slowly enough so that the shadow catches up to the arcane. There are other viable methods, but this would be the most simple and allow the quickest results with the least amount of resources. The catch is that we need to test the affects of shadow on the type and amount of arcane magic that the spell focus uses."

Araxion sat down, curling his tail tightly around his feet. "I have to admit that I'm not very familiar with the workings of magic."

"I'll cut the mage babble, then. The important thing is, we need a live survivor of Eszragos's experiments. That shouldn't be too difficult- as we speak, I have a team retrieving such a drake. We've had success in the past turning blue and red drakes twilight, and so, before we attempt to use Eszragos's spell foci on you, we're going to go through the process to turn the blue. This will show us the proper ratios we need for you, and we'll be able to begin our work."

Araxion flicked his tail, shifting his feet with some amount of discomfort. "I never knew you could turn drakes twilight."

"We developed that process through our research into what we call 'chromatic dragons', but the same idea works with twilights as well," Kerelion said. "Although usually, eggs result in much more stable dragons, and the amount of resources involved in turning them makes eggs far more efficient overall. With drakes, that's not always the case, and sometimes they can even be hostile even after they turn. But by turning one of Eszragos's blues, we'll know the exact numbers that we need when we use Eszragos's spell focus on you."

"I still have to admit that I don't really understand," Araxion said. "But I think I have an idea of what you mean. It's an honor, Kerelion. All of it."

"That's good," he said. "If you have any more questions, I'll be happy to answer them. But there's one more thing. Sintharia wishes for us to spread out our operations, in the event that the Bastion of Twilight falls. We've been spreading out our nether drake breeding program, and our most high priority projects, including you, are being moved out of the Bastion of Twilight."

"Where are we going, then?" Araxion asked. "I was under the impression that the Bastion of Twilight would be secure for a number of months, at the very least."

"We don't want to end up in a position where it's too late to move, and a single attack could destroy most of our projects," Kerelion explained. "We have a new, more secure base in the Hinterlands we'll be sending you- and the blue drake- to. I'm having one of our twilight wyrms escort you there through the Twilight Realm. I'll be there once I've set my affairs here in order."

"I understand."

"Good. You have two hours, and then you need to find a 'Surion' in the northernmost meeting room. He's a twilight wyrm, you can't miss him."


	23. Not Quite Right

**A/N: This was uploaded at the same time as Chapter 22, which has some very important information. You'll want to go back and read that if you haven't already.**

* * *

Virigosa delivered her report to Taelastrasza without incident. While it was upsetting that the night elves had lied to them, it hadn't compromised anything except for the dragons' trust, and the fact that the Twilight's Hammer was breeding nether dragons was valuable information. It wasn't worth going to Shandris Feathermoon over, and it wasn't worth straining the relationship with the Wetlands sentinels any further. Besides, the elves had already lost a group of their best sentinels. That was punishment enough.

In the few days that had passed, Virigosa and her drakes hadn't see much action. They had been sent out to hunt crocolisks and boars for food, but otherwise had spent their time lounging around Taelastrasza's camp. Quiet moments like that weren't so uncommon in the Wetlands, with most of the fighting being in the Twilight Highlands proper. Wetlands dragons were mostly reserves, responsible for clearing twilight outposts and for reinforcing the bulk of the red dragon forces whenever necessary.

Taelastrasza's forces were small enough that she preferred to give orders personally, and so it was not a surprise when she, in her high elven form, awoke Virigosa from a nap. The red dragon general shook the drake's shoulder gently, and she opened her eyes, stretching and rolling onto her side.

"I hope I didn't interrupt anything important," Taelastrasza teased.

"Sometimes it's difficult to sleep around here," Virigosa admitted. "I'm from Coldarra. It's far too hot for me."

"I see," Taelastrasza said.

Virigosa sat up, shaking the dirt and plant matter from her scales. "What do you need?"

"Our scouts found a small twilight camp, but this one has complex runes around the border, which my dragons didn't know what to make of," she explained. "You're one of our only mages here. I was thinking you could disable them, then you and your drakes can clean it out."

"Sure," Virigosa said. "Do you know where my drakes are?"

"I already gathered them for you, they're near the gates," she said, gesturing in that direction. "The cultists are to the east. I briefed Erastrasza on the location."

Virigosa rose into sky and spiraled down near the gates, landing in front of Erastrasza, Torystrasz, and Zeistrasz. "Did Taelastrasza explain what we're doing?"

Torystrasz nodded. Satisfied with the answer, Virigosa lifted herself into the sky again, flicking her tail for the red drakes to follow. Erastrasza took the lead not long after they began to fly, and they took a long route along the Wetlands, using the mountains that divided the Wetlands and the Twilight Highlands in order to hide their approach. Zeistrasz flew off to the side, vigilant for any signs of twilight activity beneath the tree cover. For most of the flight, Virigosa looked out to her left, observing the Twilight Highlands from afar. There were no ongoing battles that she could see from this distance, but the fact that there had been fighting was obvious. Long stretches of the highlands had been ripped apart by twilight corruption, and the mortal settlements she could see were burning or in ruins.

It was Erastrasza who finally located the twilight camp that they were after. She signaled with her wings for the others to quiet themselves, and they hovered far above the camp, out of sight. Virigosa briefly broke from the group to circle the area, and returned with a satisfied look on her face.

"It's a small camp. It looks like they've hardly even set it up," she said.

"What about the runes that Taelastrasza mentioned?" Zeistrasz asked.

"I didn't see any from here," Virigosa said. "We'll have to go in lower, and then I can take a look."

The four drakes spiraled down towards the camp, hovering just above the ground and a short distance away from the twilight tents. Virigosa signaled for them to stay, and took a low pass near the camp. Oddly enough, there didn't seem to be any cultists outside performing tasks, as there often were. She allowed herself to get a bit closer, and was able to get an even more detailed look at the camp. While there were tents, the centerpiece of the camp seemed to be a shallow cave that went a short distance into the mountainside. At the borders of the camp, like Taelastrasza had said, there were glowing, light pink runes. Virigosa didn't dare get too close to them yet.

She returned to the reds, more puzzled than ever. "It doesn't look like there's anyone there."

"No one there?" Torystrasz echoed. "What about the runes?"

"I did see some," Virigosa said. "Come with me. I'll get to work disabling them, but I want you there to watch my back. Something's not right."

The camp was as quiet as it had been when the drakes approached. Virigosa landed on the grass next to one of the faintly glowing runes, and leaned her head down to study it. The three drakes spread out, but didn't dare cross the perimeter. Suddenly, Virigosa lifted her head as if she was looking for something.

"This is meant to resemble what we call a shock trap rune, but it's... it's fake," Virigosa said.

"What?" Erastrasza said. "How do you make a fake rune?"

"Make a mistake when drawing it, cross a few lines you shouldn't," she said. "Normally, it's a sloppy mistake. But this had to be intentional, not even a whelp would make mistakes like this. It's blue dragon work, I can tell that much- my flight has a very distinct system of runes unique to us, and I can see them used this."

"Well, what do they say?" Torystrasz asked.

"Just a moment."

Virigosa took one of her talons and traced a part of the rune into the ground, before sweeping her foreleg across the ground and dispelling the magic that made it glow. She leaned down and carefully inspected the part of the rune she had traced into the dirt.

"I can't tell what it says," she said. "The writing's too messy."

"Convenient," Torystrasz commented. "What about the other ones?"

Virigosa stepped around the perimeter, looking over every rune as she went. "They're all fake," she said. "Every one of them."

"But why?" Erastrasza chimed in. "Why would the Twilight's Hammer have blue dragon runes around their camp?"

"Let's find out," Virigosa said. She stepped over the runes and into the perimeter.

"This is an obvious trap," Zeistrasz said. "Empty camp, fake blue dragon runes. It has to be a setup."

Virigosa paused mid-step. "You're right," she said. "It's not right. Something's off here, and that make sense. But we can't just leave it here and go back to camp with that explanation."

"Then we need to figure out what they planned to do with this trap," Zeistrasz said.

"Then we can figure out how to stop it," Erastrasza added.

"Maybe I could cave in the-"

Virigosa was cut off by an awful, raspy gasp coming from the cave in the center of the camp. A drake emerged from the darkness. Judging from his features, Virigosa could tell he was a blue drake, but his scales were odd and looked to be more of a turquoise color than anything.

"You're not twilight," His voice sounded shaky. "Oh, thank the Spellweaver, you're not twilight. I'm Tealgos. Thank the Titans you came."

 _So it was a trap, but not for us. They set it for him._ "Tealgos, I'm Virigosa," she said. "Do you know what happened here?"

"The twilights," he said. "They were here, they- it was an illusion, there was-"

"He doesn't look injured," Erastrasza noted, taking a few steps closer to the two blues. "I wonder how long he's been here."

"Not very long," The blue-green drake shook his head. "I stopped for... for rest. They had some sort of an illusion. I thought I saw a deer carcass. I've been flying for days- trying to get to Coldarra for the Embrace, you know- and I was so hungry. I don't usually do carrion, but you can't imagine, I was so hungry. So I stopped. And then, I felt a shock all around me, and _they_ were surrounding me, the twilights. Sweet Spellweaver, they look like shadows, they're monsters, they... You can't imagine."

"I've seen them," Virigosa said. "Erastrasza, go see if you can find something for him to eat. I doubt the twilights fed him."

"On it, Virigosa," the red drake said, lifting herself into the sky.

"Where are you from?" Virigosa asked.

"I've been helping the mortals near the Dark Portal," he explained. "A few of us like to stay there, monitor what passes between Azeroth and Outland."

Virigosa hadn't seen one of her own flight since she had stopped in Wyrmrest before joining the reds. Taelastrasza had agreed to grant her leave to attend the Embrace in Coldarra in a month, and she had heard rumors of how large the gathering of blues was, but it was heartening to hear in person that dragons from such far reaches of Azeroth were going to attend something so important to the future of their flight.

"I'm surprised the Blue Dragonflight is still able to even handle operations like that, without an Aspect," Torystrasz commented.

"It's not really a formal operation," Tealgos explained. "A lot of blue dragons, for the last ten thousand years, have sort of been doing our own thing with Malygos gone. And I didn't participate in the Nexus War, so I didn't see any reason to stop."

That gave Virigosa pause. "You didn't participate in the Nexus War?" she asked, with some amount of incredulousness. His story wasn't making sense, somehow.

Tealgos idly flicked his tail. "Not- oh, sweet Spellweaver..."

"Virigosa, watch out!" Zeistrasz called. "I knew we couldn't trust him."

Before she knew what was happening, a twilight drake was right beside her. Virigosa moved herself into a combat stance and took a few steps back, but the twilight drake was too close and was already turning to meet her. Behind the one twilight, Virigosa could see two more materializing in the air from whatever realm they had come from.

"What the fuck?" That was one of the twilight drakes shouting, and Virigosa couldn't immediately tell why.

Before she knew what was happening, Virigosa felt herself rolling across the grass, with a green-blue shape on top of her. She was caught by surprise and tried to fight back as soon as she realized that he had tackled her, but suddenly her body was no longer listening to her. She couldn't move. Tealgos, on top of her, turned his head back to the two remaining red drakes. He had not hesitated in anything he had done- he seemed _confident_ , somehow, unlike he had been moments before. "Get out of here!" he yelled to the reds. "Go!"

"What do you think you're doing?" Another of the twilight drakes was speaking now.

"Good luck explaining this to your masters!" Tealgos taunted, as he leaned his face down to Virigosa's.

He whispered something to her, except Virigosa couldn't hear it. Everything was fuzzy now, her hearing was gone, and the whole world looked like it was spinning. She felt distant and her whole body felt numb, like she was no longer apart of the world. Her vision flashed green and then began to fade to black, and within moments she could no longer wonder about what was happening to her at all.


	24. Nethandris

Virigosa wasn't sure how much time had passed by the time she woke up.

Her body still felt heavy, but she was able to blink her eyes open and roll onto her side. She was in some sort of cave, and rays of light were shining through the nearby entrance. She could hear running water outside, and a more distant crashing sound, perhaps a waterfall. But it was quiet, apart from the sounds of nature, far more quiet than it had ever been in Hyjal or in the Wetlands with battles always no more than a few miles away.

"Virigosa! I thought you would be waking up soon."

The unfamiliar voice belonged to a high elf clad in golden robes. She had been standing deeper in the cave, but circled around to stand against the sunlight streaming in through the entrance. She seemed to be looking outside, gesturing to a figure out of Virigosa's line of sight.

"Who are you?" Virigosa demanded. "And how do you know my name?"

"I'm Nethandris," the elven figure said. "It's good to finally talk to you."

Virigosa was about to speak again, but another shape was approaching the cave, this one a drake. As he came closer, she was able to recognize the distinctive turquoise color of his scales.

"Tealgos," she growled.

"Actually, it's Zoralus," he said. "Sorry about what happened in the Wetlands. There was no time to explain, and I didn't want you ripping my face off halfway here."

"He really didn't need to use a spell that strong, though," Nethandris hastily added. "You've been out for three days."

"It's not my fault," Zoralus protested. "Blues aren't trained to resist green dragon abilities."

"Tell _her_ that," Nethandris said.

Virigosa, in the meantime, was getting to her feet, stretching out her limbs and shaking the drowsiness from her body. "I've been asleep for three days?" She flexed her talons against the cave floor. "I have no idea where I am or who you are. Give me a reason I should trust you."

Nethandris didn't seem fazed. "We haven't hurt you. We had plenty of opportunity to. And we took you away from the twilights."

"And if you don't believe us," Zoralus added. "There's six dozen dragons out there who'd be happy to back us up. Physically, need be."

"You're hardly a diplomat, Zoralus," Nethandris commented.

"You're telling me?" he shot back. "Isn't being a terrible diplomat your whole schtick?"

Nethandris held up a hand to him. "Maybe later," she said, turning to Virigosa. "We're sorry about what happened in the Wetlands. The Twilight Dragonflight was trying to capture you, and Zoralus pulled you here, through the Emerald Dream, to get you away from them."

"Emerald Dream?" Virigosa asked, calming down a bit, flaring out her wings as much as she could in this tight space. "So you're a green?"

"My mother was a green and my father was a blue," Zoralus said.

"So you're... a hybrid?"

"We prefer mixed-flight," Nethandris cut in.

"So is this some sort of secret 'mixed-flight' enclave or something?" Virigosa demanded, lashing her tail across the floor.

"Not really," Nethandris said. "We have seventy-some dragons here, and only eight are mixed-flight. Excluding dragons like my children, who for all intents and purposes, are green. Most of us, for whatever reason, just didn't agree with how the leadership of our flights were operating. So they came to me."

"My flight means _everything_ to me," Virigosa said. "Why should I trust someone who's abandoned theirs?"

"I'm just explaining what we are, Virigosa," Nethandris said. "You don't have to stay. You can get up and leave right now, fly away and never see us again. That's fine. But please, walk with me. You deserve a better explanation, and I think we can help each other, if you hear me out."

Zoralus disappeared behind the cave entrance, and Nethandris stepped back, giving Virigosa space to walk. The blue sat for a moment, pondered, and walked out of the cave into the brilliant sunlight. She could hear now, clearly, wingbeats in the distance and the sound of running water. They were on some sort of path covered in thick green grass, and it led downhill and around some rocks. The pass wasn't terribly large, but wide enough for an adult dragon to fit through. Virigosa took a moment just to take in her surroundings, before locating Zoralus and Nethandris, still in her elven form, on top of a boulder.

"Are you coming with us?" Nethandris asked.

Virigosa was careful to keep her body language as neutral as possible. "I want answers. Nothing more."

"That's all I need," Nethandris slid off the boulder, while Zoralus took to the skies, hovering just above them. "Just this way."

Nethandris shifted into her draconic form. She was a wyrm, that was obvious enough, but she was not a particularly large dragon. She was still well within the wyrm size range, but it was apparent she had always been small for her age. She was covered in bright gold scales, far more yellow in color than any member of the Bronze Dragonflight. Most anyone who looked at her would recognize her as a bronze dragon, but Virigosa, after seeing Tealgos, could tell she was mixed-flight just from the strange color.

Nethandris seemed to notice how Virigosa looked at her, and the blue didn't even have to ask her question to receive an answer. "My mother was a bronze and my father was green," Nethandris explained. "My mother was from the same clutch as Anachronos. I call myself Nozdormu's least-favorite granddaughter."

"That's... nice," Virigosa said. What other response was there?

The pass opened up even wider, and soon Virigosa was able to walk alongside Nethandris. They rounded a final turn, and the main part of the camp was revealed. Guarded by a rocky outcropping, the center of the camp a lake and a large stretch of grass. Above the lake, a few drakes looked to be practicing combat. Adult dragons, wyrms, and drakes alike were resting under shade or in caves, and they hardly looked surprised as Nethandris approached.

As they passed by, Nethandris used her tail to point out a green wyrm basking next to the lake. "That's Sathius," she said. "My consort."

Nethandris led the two drakes across the field and down through another path. Virigosa sat down in the grass, and Nethandris laid across from her, spread out like a cat. Zoralus settled next to his Lady, watching the two female dragons with interest.

"Wherever you want to start, Virigosa," Nethandris said.

She knew exactly where she wanted to begin. "What does the Twilight Dragonflight want with me?" she demanded. "And how do you know about it?"

"I like to be well-informed," Nethandris began to explain. "I have dragons here with me, yes, but I have a network of contacts across Azeroth, in every flight. Except, of course, those that answer to the Old Gods. We may not be allied with the Wyrmrest Accord, but like them, we fight for the destruction of the Twilight's Hammer and the security of Azeroth. So, in order to get actionable intelligence on twilight activities, I sent an agent into the Bastion of Twilight."

"I was that agent," Zoralus said. "You nearly got me killed, Nethandris, thank you very much. I can't just slip into the Emerald Dream in a place like that."

"You're still alive, and the information you gave us was invaluable," Nethandris said. "It didn't help you kept trying your luck. Did you really have to claim you were related to one of Eszragos's mistresses?"

"You know I like to fancy myself a gambler," Zoralus said.

"Whatever you like to 'fancy yourself' isn't my fault," Nethandris said. "Sorry, Virigosa. Anyways, while there, Zoralus was assigned to a mission where he, along with a group of twilight drakes, would capture you and bring you to a twilight base in the Hinterlands. When you went into the trap that the Twilight's Hammer set, instead of leaving you, he put you to sleep and we brought you here through the Emerald Dream."

"It's not polite to just leave someone to get captured by the Twilight's Hammer, you know?" Zoralus said. "And the more resources we can take away from them, the better. They said they wanted you specifically for one of their projects. You were the closest of Eszragos's drakes, and most of them are in Coldarra, where there's no chance they can get them."

"Eszragos's drakes?" Virigosa echoed, tilting her head. "I'm not one of Eszragos's drakes. I was told that they all died during the Nexus War."

Zoralus looked confused to hear this. "They were very sure that you're one of Eszragos's."

Nethandris was shaking her head. "Our sources say that around fifty of Eszragos's drakes survived the Nexus War," she said. "They're definitely still around. Mensagosa is one of Arygos's strongest supporters, and almost all of her credibility comes from being a war hero that was empowered by Eszragos."

"Are you sure?" Virigosa said. "I don't know how that's possible."

"I'm sure," Nethandris said. "All of my blue agents are in agreement. There's no debate about it within the flight. I can have one of my dragons retrieve your records from the Nexus if you want to be certain."

"That's... very strange," Virigosa said. She shifted her feet uncomfortably and wrapped her tail tightly around her talons. She wanted to change the subject. "Now, earlier. You said we thought we could help each other."

"Indeed I do," Nethandris said. "Virigosa, I know you're loyal to the Aspects and the Wyrmrest Accord. I have no love for them. But I'm not asking you to abandon them and join us- instead, I think that by working _with_ us, we can-"

"What do you have against the Aspects?" Virigosa interrupted.

"I always look forward to someone asking me that question," Nethandris rose to her feet. "Are you familiar with the idea of ancient draconic law, Virigosa?"

The answer was yes, but Virigosa didn't get the chance to say it, because Nethandris launched into her speech almost immediately. "Fourteen thousand years ago, when Kalimdor was whole and five dragonflights protected Azeroth, the Aspects and their cronies spent their time writing countless treaties and laws that dictated what the flights could do and how dragons of different flights could interact with each other," she began to explain. "Most of those were abandoned after Kalimdor shattered and the Black Dragonflight betrayed them. But back then, one of those laws forbid dragons from breeding across flights. Mixed-flight dragons would have always been outcasts, no matter what. Not fitting neatly in any of the flights, the building blocks of draconic civilization. My parents made a mistake by having children, but _I_ was held to answer for what they had done. I was not the first mixed-flight dragon that was born, I was just the first that they didn't kill."

"There has to be more to the story than that," Virigosa didn't let Nethandris get another word in. "The Aspects are reasonable. Alexstrasza loves _all_ life. They wouldn't kill you just for being born."

"They have their excuses, but to be frank, I don't give a shit about _why_ they did it," Nethandris answered, digging her talons into the grass. "They tried to kill me, and that's all I need to know. Ysera was the only one who showed me any sort of mercy, and Malygos didn't care. The others didn't stop until I threatened to reveal something that would have been very bad for them. You see, not all dragons agreed with what the Aspects had tried to do to me. So they helped me. That's when I realized how powerful information can be."

"You're crazy," Virigosa said. "The Aspects are good people."

Nethandris shook her head. "I may be a bitter old dragon," she admitted. "But believe me, I'm perfectly sane."

"She has this conversation with pretty much everyone new she meets," Zoralus said. "Neth here just doesn't have a very endearing personality."

"I think most everyone else here would disagree with you," Nethandris said sharply, gesturing with her tail back to where they had came.

"Enough," Virigosa snapped. "Just tell me how I can help you, and how you can help me. You said it yourself, I don't have to be here."

"Right, right," Nethandris sat down and lowered her head. "Working with the Red Dragonflight in the Wetlands, you have experience against the Twilight Dragonflight and the Twilight's Hammer. If after the Nexus War you're willing to work with the Red Dragonflight to defend Azeroth, you've shown you can put aside past grudges and disagreements for the greater good. Those are great qualities to have, and we can always use someone like that around here."

"Is that it?" Somehow, it felt like that couldn't be all. Plenty of drakes had experience against the twilights, and plenty had worked with other flights at some point in the past.

Nethandris smiled, and didn't seem to acknowledge Virigosa's question at all. "I won't criticize the Wyrmrest Accord, because I know what you think of them. We want to protect Azeroth, just like they do. The difference is, with us, you won't spend days lounging around in a red dragon war camp. You'll be with us making a plan, executing the plan, whatever you want. You _could_ spend your time basking in the sun, if that's what you desire. Either way, we can give you a much more active position in the war than you've had."

"The chain of command is there for a good reason," Virigosa said. "There's a reason generals are wyrms and not whelps."

"How long have you fighting for, Virigosa?" Nethandris said back. "Don't tell me you know nothing about strategy. Besides, many of us here are wyrms, born before the Sundering. Our plans aren't made by just drakes, everyone contributes to them."

"You're failing to impress me," Virigosa said, moving her tail from her feet to swish it back and forth beside her.

"That's fine, because I think you'll find my next offer most appealing," the golden wyrm said. "Have they ever bothered to tell you where twilight dragons come from, Virigosa? The Twilight's Hammer and the Black Dragonflight takes the eggs of the four other flights, and uses shadow magic to convert them into twilight eggs. Red eggs are the ones they take most often. However, a very large number of twilight drakes originally came from blue eggs."

Virigosa dug her talons into the soil, but refused to say anything.

"I think it's fair to say that after the Nexus War, whether it was justified or not, it was clear that the Wyrmrest Accord's top priorities do not include the preservation of the Blue Dragonflight," Nethandris continued. "But our priorities are not theirs. We will help you take back stolen eggs from the Twilight's Hammer, Virigosa, and you can bring them back to your flight. I'm not Alexstrasza. No single flight is my main priority, while she has to worry about her Red Dragonflight- I, on the other hand, care about every dragon, from every flight, regardless of what they've done."

Something about the offer sounded too good to be true. Virigosa let her talons sink deeper into the dirt. "You still haven't given me very good reasons to trust you," she said.

"You have nothing to lose and so much to gain, Virigosa," Nethandris said. "We can help you play your part in saving the world, and help you save your flight at the same time. The Wyrmrest Accord, when it puts you at a quiet outpost in the Wetlands, can't say the same thing."

"I'm not going to waste my time on false promises," Virigosa said.

"Listen, Virigosa, then you don't have to," Nethandris said. "We've been planning an assault on a twilight camp where they're holding eggs to send to the Twilight Highlands. We're going to raid it tomorrow. Join us. We'll prove that we're telling the truth. And if you don't like it, you can leave whenever you like. I just ask that you give us a chance."

There was a long moment of silence before Virigosa finally answered. "I'll give you one chance," she said.

"That's all we need," Nethandris said. "And I thank you. Zoralus, take her to her quarters. She's going to be tired after you put her to sleep for so long."

* * *

The sun had set some hours ago, and it was almost silent in Nethandris's camp. A dragon in a night elven form picked his way through the grass, and descended into one of caves that ringed the lake. Four other dragons, also in their humanoid forms, were already there.

"Sathius," Nethandris said. "It's good to see you've finally arrived."

"Meralygosa is dead," Sathius announced. "Navagos passed along the word to me."

"I'm surprised that Arygos would dare kill her," Another dragon, an adult named Jerastrasza, said. "Killing others is not a good way to ensure their silence. More often than not, it only serves to make everyone else more supicious."

"He's hardly clever," Nethandris pointed out. "And he killed her too late anyways. She'd already passed his dirty little secrets off to us."

"He disguised her death to make it look like spell that backfired," Sathius said. "But Navagos and a few others weren't fooled. Arygos is arousing more suspicion than he'd like."

"But none of them are going to do anything," Arisra, the fourth dragon and a daughter of Nethandris, pointed out. "The Embrace is too close, and Arygos holds the illusion of power on his side. We all know that the odds of him becoming Aspect are bordering on impossible, but almost every blue dragon believes that he holds a strong majority of the flight behind him."

"Many of Kalecgos's supporters believe that most of the flight is against them," Zoralus observed. "When really, there's so many more of them than they think."

"Arygos's power is undeniable, though," Sathius said. "With Mensagosa at his side, the Blue Dragonflight's strongest warriors will live and die for him."

"And with Deathwing ready to support him," Nethandris added dryly. "If Arygos wins, the Blue Dragonflight joins the blacks. If he loses, the Blue Dragonflight... it could be a slaughter. The smart move for Deathwing would be to cut his loses and try to destroy them right then and there, when they're still weak from the ritual to empower an Aspect. I hope I'm wrong, but even in his madness, Deathwing is no fool."

"It kills me knowing our options," Zoralus said. "If we tell the Blue Dragonflight, they'll refuse to believe it and then we have Arygos going after us. There's no way we can stand against Deathwing and stop it ourselves. And if we tell Alexstrasza..."

"I'd be willing to set aside my differences with Alexstrasza and tell her something like this," Nethandris said. "But her options wouldn't be much better than ours. If she were to interfere in the Blue Dragonflight's internal politics, it could create another war between the two flights, with tensions as high as they are. The Blue Dragonflight might not end up picking an Aspect at all, leaving Arygos as the apparent leader, meaning Deathwing would probably get his way anyways."

"We need to try and keep as many blues out of Coldarra as possible," Jerastrasza said. "And hope that a viable option presents itself. Sathius, any progress on trying to smuggle the eggs out of the Nexus?"

"Our remaining contacts in Coldarra have all flatly refused," Sathius said. "And if we tell them that Arygos is working with Deathwing, both them and us will then become a target. We'd need to send in a team of our own to get them out, and I don't see that happening. Zoralus is our only dragon that can pass for a blue, and the Blue Dragonflight would be out for blood if he was found anywhere near the eggs before they disappeared."

"Speaking of which," Arisra said. "Did the blue drake agree to stay? I saw that she was awake."

"She doesn't trust us," Nethandris said. "But that's not surprising. I had Navagos send us her records when she first arrived, and she has a history of fervent loyalty to her flight."

"Odd she'd be working with the reds, then," Zoralus noted.

"Yes," Nethandris agreed. "But either way, she agreed to join the attack on the twilight holding camp. I think that she'll be very willing to work with us after that."

"That's good, then," Arisra said. "Do you think this camp might have more information on that Hinterlands facility?"

"I'd assume so," Zoralus said. "From what I could wrestle out of the twilights, their Hinterlands facility is a place where they do experiments on dragons. Like Blackrock Mountain under Nefarian. This is the closest twilight camp to the Hinterlands that we know of, and if they have eggs there, it makes sense that they'd be sending them to the Hinterlands base instead of the Twilight Highlands."

"Let's hope so," Sathius said. "We should finalize our plans before we show them to the others in the morning."

Nethandris nodded. "That's a good idea. Let's talk strategy, then. Now, Jerastrasza, you're still going to be leading a group of six against them from the west, yes?.."


	25. Destined For Greatness

When Kerelion arrived, everyone in the Hinterlands base could hear it.

"You _what?_ " Kerelion had to be a few rooms away, but Araxion could still hear the outburst. "The half-breed took her? I will _flay him_ and use his magic to feed Ultraxion, and do the same to you, _if you're lucky._ "

Araxion could hear very heavy footsteps approaching, undoubtedly the black wyrm in his draconic form. It seemed like he was going elsewhere in the base, however, because the sound became fainter and fainter. Araxion instead took the time to give his quarters a more thorough look. It didn't have the same crumbled, dilapidated look of the rooms in the Bastion of Twilight, and the architecture didn't appear to be dwarven at all. Had he been familiar with the elves of the Eastern Kingdoms, Araxion would have recognized the walls and tiling as Quel'dorei work. From what he could tell, the base was underground, but it was difficult to identify where, as he had come to Hinterlands from within the twilight realm.

It was not long before Kerelion's footsteps came back, stopping for a long time just outside of Araxion's room. The black wyrm must have shifted into his human form just outside the door, because that was the form he entered in. As Araxion expected, he looked far less than pleased.

"I have news," Kerelion said.

"I heard," Araxion said dryly. "It doesn't seem like we've been winning much lately."

Kerelion nodded, clenching his fist. "It's the Twilight's Hammer, the _mortals_ ," he spat. "They're useful thralls, sometimes, but they're completely incompetent. Most of our recent operations have been planned by them, and _that_ 's why they failed. But I've been promised that that's going to change."

"That's good to hear," Araxion said.

"The mortals have done nothing but ruin our plans. They're the reason we failed to kill Alexstrasza in Hyjal, they're the reason we _lost_ Hyjal, they're the reason the Red Dragonflight has been handing us our asses everywhere outside of the Twilight Highlands," Kerelion continued his rant with hardly a regard for Araxion. "But Deathwing has promised that he's going to be taking more control of the Twilight Dragonflight very, very soon. And things will change."

"And he's going to fix all of that," Araxion observed. "I only wonder why he waited so long. We've already lost Hyjal and most of our footholds in Kalimdor."

Kerelion paused, his expression unreadable for a moment. "You're going to be the Aspect of Twilight," he said. "I can tell you. We failed to acheive most of what we had planned for Mount Hyjal, but one of Deathwing's major goals was to steal eggs. The Green Dragonflight keeps a large number of its eggs in breeding grounds on Mount Hyjal. The eggs we managed to find have bolstered our ranks by a few thousand, and the Green Dragonflight believes that they're casualties rather than eggs that have turned. Deathwing isn't incompetent- he's just been biding his time for his forces to grow, and for the real war to begin."

Araxion wondered, briefly, how much other twilight dragons remembered from within the egg. He had been lain as a black dragon, within the Bastion of Twilight, and so he had never questioned the Twilight Dragonflight. But what was it like for dragons that had originally been red, blue, green, or bronze like Sariona? What did they remember from within the shell? How did the Twilight Dragonflight ensure the loyalty of their young after they had come from other flights?

Kerelion had said that one of the reasons they rarely turned drakes was because they were not loyal to the Twilight Dragonflight after they turned. Whelps could think within the egg, Araxion knew that much, so why didn't twilights turned as eggs have the same problem?

"I'm glad to hear that he's going to be taking charge soon," Araxion said. "From what I saw in Hyjal, we on the front lines were doing nothing wrong, it was our strategy that led to failure."

"But until then, we have to deal with the failures of the mortals in the Twilight's Hammer," Kerelion growled. "That's what I came to talk to you about. The drakes I sent, under the command of the Twilight's Hammer, failed to capture Virigosa."

 _That name... why..._ Then it all came back, Araxion's time on Mount Hyjal. Kasiona's death and Sariona's quest for vengeance, meeting Eyrigos and speaking to the blue about the Nexus War, and finally, meeting Virigosa in the flesh in that cave during one of the final battles on Mount Hyjal. They hadn't fought, neither she nor him had made a move to attack the other. In fact... they had talked.

Araxion realized that he had been silent for an uncomfortable amount of time. "Virigosa, she... uh... the blue..."

"Yes," Kerelion tilted his head, narrowing his eyes. "She's the drake that we were going to study so we can turn you into Ultraxion."

"Sorry," Araxion said hastily. "That name... That's the name of the drake who killed a friend of a friend. My friend, she..." He let himself trail off, knowing it was hopeless.

Kerelion stared at him for a long, awful moment, and Araxion could only guess what the look on his face meant. "I don't know who you've met out there, Araxion, and frankly, I don't care," the black wyrm said at last. "But twilight dragons don't have 'friends'. You're a servant to the Old Gods, and that's all that matters to you, to any twilight dragon. Whatever friendships you think you have, they're not real. The Masters are the only thing you care about."

Araxion knew that that was wrong. He cared about Sariona, even if she was difficult at times, even if sometimes she pretended that she didn't care about him. He wanted to protest and tell Kerelion about the friends he had, all the things they had said and done with each other, but he wasn't stupid. It was pointless arguing with the wyrm about a topic like this, he could tell.

"Yes, sir," Araxion said instead, nodding. "I understand."

"Good. Now that we've cleared that up," Kerelion said. "I'm going to see if there's another of Eszragos's drakes outside of Coldarra for us to capture. If not, we need to get this project started, and quickly. If I can't get a hold of another of Eszragos's drakes after a few weeks, we're going to move onto our other plan. In that case, we'll be bringing nether drakes here, and we'll have you absorb their essences. It should have roughly the same results as using spell foci, but it does mean we'll have to spend more resources. We can only breed so many nether drakes, while using Eszragos's method means that we'd be getting all that power directly from the ley lines."

"I see," Araxion said. "Whichever way you do it, I won't let you down."

"That's good." Kerelion made a move towards the door. "I'll leave you be, Araxion. When I have any news, I'll tell you."

* * *

What were they fighting for, anyways?

Araxion, sitting alone in his room, wondered why he had never thought about it before. He was going to be an Aspect. Deathwing had decided that. But what would be left for him after the Hour of Twilight? Araxion was not fighting for his dragonflight, for Sariona, for anyone he cared about. Kerelion had made that much clear. But then, what was left that was worth fighting for? It was almost like nobody had ever bothered to consider that. But there were thousands of twilight dragons in the world, one must have thought of it. Why had they never said anything?

Perhaps they were afraid. All twilight dragons were kept on a tight leash. That was why _he_ would never say anything, after all. Araxion knew that his superiors, like Kerelion, wouldn't approve of this train of thought, or many other ideas he had entertained, but he didn't care anymore. There were no voices in his head listening to his thoughts, judging his each and every whim. His will was his own, and so he was satisfied to keep these small acts of defiance within his mind, where they were safe.


	26. Metamorphosis

**A/N: Because this chapter is so short, it was published at the same time as chapter 25. You'll want to go back and read that if you haven't already.**

* * *

"You're beautiful, Lady Sariona," one of the naga sorceresses said.

Sariona held out one of her hands and flexed her claws. It was disorienting to adapt to such a different shape, but naga, at least, were more similar to dragons than elves.

 _ **The naga are our work, as are you. It is a natural fit.**_

The mortal form that Sariona had chosen was that of a naga sorceress, covered almost uniformly in dark purple scales. The frills on her back and tail were just like the wing membranes of her draconic form, a pinkish gradient. The difference in coloration made it obvious that Sariona was a dragon and not a true naga sorceress, but that was fine. She would have no reason to hide what she was once she arrived in Nazjatar.

"Will the Queen consider this form satisfactory?" Sariona asked, slithering forward a short distance, testing her new method of movement. "I'll admit that the change from dragon to naga is disorienting."

"That's to be expected," said Navaxia, the black drake that had been helping Sariona with her humanoid form. "Mortal forms are always strange at first. You'll adapt."

 _ **Sometimes mortals and their shapes prove themselves useful, even if dragons hold more power.**_

"Naga are also designed for moving in the water, not on land," Lady Nir'vash, the leader of the sorceresses, added. "It will feel much more natural once we get you to the sea."

"Either way, I certainly expect that the Queen will approve of the form you've chosen," another of the sorceresses said.

Sariona moved away from Navaxia and the naga in order to find room for her draconic form. "Ever since you've started preparing me to go to Nazjatar, it feels like the ocean has been calling to me, somehow," she admitted.

"That's good," Lady Nir'vash said. "We'll be bringing you to Nazjatar soon, I expect. But there's one last battle the Queen would like you to participate first participate in. A battle here."

Sariona shifted into her draconic form. In a few short weeks, her body had changed so much that even Araxion, her closest friend, would have difficulty recognizing her. She had grown significantly and was no longer a drake, but an adult dragon, courtesy of the naga's magic. But that was not all- her wings had changed shape and were now attached to her body all the way down to her tail, and webbing was present between all her talons. Her head and eyes were more like those of the naga now, to make aquatic life easier. Her scales had darkened to an extent, but for the most part, Sariona's color scheme was one of the only thing's that was the same that it had been. She was still undeniably a dragon, but her body had been designed for aquatic life.

"One last battle," Sariona repeated the naga's words. "The Queen's business isn't so urgent, then?"

"Deathwing and the Twilight Dragonflight are going to be launching a massive assault against the dragonflights on the day of the Embrace," Lady Nir'vash said. "The Queen's work is important, but it can wait. As an adult dragon, you will be a great asset to the effort here. Keeping you here also shows that it was not a mistake to send you to Nazjatar, and that you will still be aiding your dragonflight despite being sworn to the Queen."

 _ **The Naga Queen's choice in you is ironic. Many things and many beings lay forgotten in her realm, and these you will deal with before long.**_

"I look forward to seeing what she has in store for me," Sariona said. "And to the battle coming up. What do we know about it?"

"We're splitting our forces between here and another location elsewhere on Azeroth," Navaxia said. "But you'll be remaining here in the Twilight Highlands. You'll be briefed with the other adult twilight dragons when the time comes."

 _ **It is then that twilight will truly begin to take hold. It will be magnificent,**_ the Masters promised.

"It will be magnificent," Sariona said, echoing the whispers in her head. Her will had never entirely been her own.

"It will," Navaxia agreed.


	27. Twilight Raid

Around twenty of Nethandris's dragons were participating in the attack on the twilight camp. The dragons' base was located in the mountains of the northern Eastern Kingdoms, and the twilight camp was in Hillsbrad, so it was not a particularly long flight. They gathered a safe distance away from the camp while they prepared for the assault itself. This location would work for now, but the twilight camp had drakes, so they would have to make their move quickly.

Jerastrasza was leading one of the teams, and Sathius the other. Blue dragons often fought alone or in pairs rather than in large, coordinated groups- the three red drakes Virigosa had worked with in the Wetlands were the most she ever had to deal with- and so she was unsure of who to go with. Eventually, Zoralus landed beside her.

"You don't have to join either of them," he said. "I know this isn't how the Blue Dragonflight does things."

Virigosa shook her head. "I don't want to interfere with their plans," she said. "I'm not sure how you do things here, and now's as good a time to learn as any."

"Virigosa, I want you with me," Nethandris said, having walked over to the two drakes in her elven form unnoticed. "I'll be going after the place where they keep the eggs. There's a good chance they'll have some sort of spells protecting them, and I'll need someone to disable them."

Virigosa still couldn't help but feel that there had to be some sort of nefarious intentions behind Nethandris's offers. There had to be some sort of catch she had conveniently failed to mention, or something she expected that had not yet been made apparent. Just from what Nethandris had said about Alexstrasza, Virigosa knew that she was being lied to about some things. However, the wyrm was correct in her claims that she had done nothing to harm Virigosa so far, and she didn't seem concerned with or defensive about her suspicions. And if there were blue dragon eggs here, it was Virigosa's duty to ensure they were safe and protected.

"Alright, I'll go with you," Virigosa said. "But if this is any sort of trick, I swear, you're going to regret it. I don't care how many dragons you have."

"I hear you loud and clear, and you have my word," Nethandris said, moving back towards Jerastrasza and Sathius.

* * *

Jerastrasza's group struck first, while the main force, led by Sathius, stayed back and waited. While the cultists were occupied with Jerastrasza's forces from one side, Sathius and his dragons would ambush them from behind. Nethandris was with Sathius's dragons, so Virigosa stayed back and waited for the second group to take flight. While they watched the progress of Jerastrasza's group, Nethandris made her way over to the blue drake.

"I'm going to be a bit away from the main battle, so look for me off to the side," she said. "Once most of the twilight drakes are away from us, we'll find wherever they keep the eggs. I'm willing to bet they're in the main building, they usually are."

"Alright, and I'll help clear the drakes in the meantime," Virigosa said. "I'm surprised you're not leading this. Didn't you make the plans?"

Nethandris nodded. "I did, but mixed-flight dragons don't have breath weapons," she explained. "And strafing is an important part of combat against mortals. I wouldn't be here at all if we weren't recovering eggs."

Virigosa was starting to get antsy after so long without the order to go. It felt like forever before a loud roar echoed through the plains, and Sathius sprung to his feet. The dragons, many of which had looked bored moments before, suddenly seemed to come alive. Sathius turned back to face his group of dragons, spreading his wings as he did so.

"That's our cue!" he announced, as if it wasn't obvious.

The group of dragons rose into the air together. It was a very short flight to the twilight camp, which was larger than most others that Virigosa had seen. While the rest of the dragons dove quickly into battle, she took a moment to scan her surroundings. She could see Jerastrasza's group already busy with twilight drakes to the west, and cultists running around frantically on the ground. The camp was mostly made up of tents, although a few crumbling buildings were within the perimeter as well. They looked to be of human make, perhaps from an abandoned town or military outpost.

One of the first things Virigosa noticed about the battle itself was how disorganized it was. Fighting was always chaotic, but it seemed that Nethandris's dragons had no plan at all beyond killing cultists and burning down their tents. She saw a drake accidentally swipe another with his tail, causing the other to falter in flight for a moment. The dragons weren't giving each other enough space to fight, especially near Jerastrasza's group. Virigosa couldn't help but feel disgusted, somehow, to see just how poorly this operation had been planned out. In the beginning of the Nexus War, the Blue Dragonflight had been disorganized, sure, but never quite like this.

Something slammed into Virigosa's side. Although it was embarrassing she had failed to notice, she recovered quickly and locked talons with the twilight drake. They wrestled in the air, and Virigosa managed to gain the upper hand quickly, stunning the twilight with her frost breath. After that, it was a matter of clawing at the wings and sending the drake spiraling towards the ground. A sloppier kill than Virigosa would've liked, but that was all that was necessary. _These drakes haven't seen combat,_ she realized, casting her gaze towards the bulk of the fighting, where Jerastrasza's forces were facing off against many more drakes.

Virigosa looked towards the ground again, searching for Nethandris or anything that looked like it could be the main building. The golden wyrm was waiting for her above what could have once been an inn. Virigosa flew to meet her, and Nethandris made her way to the ground. The wyrm shifted into her elven form, standing beside a door, and Virigosa landed beside her.

"You think this is it?" Virigosa asked.

"I do," Nethandris said. "There were a few guards here I had to kill that weren't participating in the main battle. And look at the roof, it's been repaired recently. They're holding something important in here, no other reason they'd take care of it."

Arcane magic shimmered around Virigosa for a moment as she cast a spell. A faint glow appeared on the door, a rune. The blue drake leaned in to read it, then growled.

"They have no idea how to make a quality trap rune," she said.

All it took to disarm the rune was a simple fire blast, and then it shimmered out of existence. Nethandris opened the door, and Virigosa shifted into her own elven form to fit in through it. The two dragons stepped into the old inn together, scanning the building for any sign of life. The quiet was strange, but it proved not to be deceptive. On the ground floor, at least, Virigosa and Nethandris were the only ones there.

"Let's sweep this floor for any sort of documents or any sign of eggs," Nethandris suggested.

Virigosa nodded in agreement, and walked across the room to what looked to have once been a kitchen. A fireplace sat long-abandoned, and shattered glass was scattered across one part of the room. The disrepair struck Virigosa as odd. If it had been like this when the Twilight's Hammer arrived, surely they would have fixed it. A kitchen would've been useful- even cultists needed to eat, after all, and mortals couldn't usually eat food raw like dragons did.

She gathered arcane energy in her hand and wove it into a spell, sending it out in a pulse around her. There was a soft crack, and the room around Virigosa shifted as the illusion shattered. It was much more like she expected- a partially stocked kitchen, with food and cooking equipment left hastily abandoned. Virigosa's heart sank. If they had disguised something as insignificant as a kitchen, they would have to check each and every room for illusions.

"Nethandris!" Virigosa called, stepping out of the kitchen. "There's illusions cast on the furniture. I have no idea how much is real. No way we can find the eggs with them active."

Outside, fighting could still be heard. It sounded like Nethandris's forces were doing well, from the triumphant roars. Such sounds were distant, thankfully; Nethandris and Virigosa had not told the others which building they had gone into, but the fighting was far enough away that they wouldn't be caught in the line of fire.

"Crafty bastards," Nethandris said. "What do you want to do about them?"

"We could go room by room and shatter them- my mana pool is plenty large enough- but that'll be tedious," Virigosa said. "But the spellwork is poorly done. There has to be someone nearby powering it, and once we stop them, it should all disappear."

"Right," Nethandris said. When she next spoke, her voice much much louder, bordering on a yell. "I hear mages taste better than most mortals."

Virigosa shook her head and muttered a few insults directed towards Nethandris. The blue drake made her way up a flight of stairs and emerged onto the top floor, leaving the golden wyrm to check the ground floor more thoroughly. Virigosa was faced with a hallway and several doors, presumably leading to what were once bedrooms. It was impossible to tell which one might've had someone inside.

"I know you're there," she called out. "Let's make this easy for both you and me. Show yourself."

It didn't work. She hadn't expected it to.

Virigosa turned to the nearest door to her right, and used her hands to cast a fire spell in its direction. The door went up in flames almost immediately after it hit, crumbling into ashes within moments. No mage was to be found. The blue drake went further down the hall, doing the same to every door she passed and glancing inside to ensure that she was not missing anyone.

It was not long before her efforts were rewarded with the sight of a twilight mage cowering in a corner. He looked to be in the process of casting some sort of spell, but Virigosa used a blast of arcane energy to knock him off his feet. She held out a hand to channel another spell, which pinned the cultist against the wall.

"What arrogance to try and use magic against one such as I," she said, almost in a growl. Her intention was to intimidate the mage more than anything. "You should be honored I think you worthy enough to stay your execution even for this brief moment. Tell me, where are the eggs?"

"Your efforts here today are futile," the cultist said, and Virigosa couldn't help but think it sounded like he was repeating someone else. "The Hour of Twilight is nigh. Any victory you think you acheive is a false hope."

"I don't have the patience to keep this up for very long," Virigosa warned. " _Tell me where the eggs are_."

"Spawn of a lesser god," the cultist began to babble. "Your end comes on twilight wings. The Hour of Twilight-"

He was cut off by Virigosa letting him drop to the ground. She didn't give him a moment to speak, spearing him with a conjured ice spike as soon as she released her other spell. The blue drake turned and walked back into the hallway, leaving him to die, as the illusions around her began to fade. It was nothing too drastic, mostly a change in the color of the furniture. Virigosa wondered why they had bothered at all. Casting an illusion on everything only made it more likely that it would be noticed.

"I got it, Nethandris!" Virigosa yelled to the wyrm downstairs.

"I noticed!" she called back. "They have documents everywhere around here! Any luck with the eggs?"

"Not yet!" Virigosa said.

The blue drake had no more reason to destroy the doors in such a flashy way, but still used a weak bolt of arcane energy to check the doors for defenses before opening them. Finally, when she opened one of the rooms towards the end of the hallway, she was met with the sight of eggs resting on a blanket. After using a weak, harmless pulse of arcane energy to check for any traps, Virigosa kneeled beside the eggs and rested a hand on one. It was disappointing how few there were- she counted seven blue eggs and twelve red- but thankfully, they all appeared to be safe.

"I found them, Nethandris!"

"Great! I'll be up in a moment, I'm just gathering some of these papers."

Virigosa stood up and began to look around the room for anything else of interest. There were nails in the wall where there might have once been paintings or picture frames. The only furniture remaining was a table, with a few papers laying on top. Virigosa picked them up and began reading. It looked like some sort of transport list- apparently, both the red and blue eggs were the remnants of two larger clutches. After hearing Nethandris explain where twilight drakes came from, Virigosa didn't want to think of what had happened to their siblings.

She turned around to look back at the eggs. In the distance, it sounding like the fighting was already beginning to tamper down. Virigosa leaned down and began to gently stroke the shell of one of the blue dragon eggs, just as she began to hear Nethandris's footsteps on the stairs.

"We'll take care of you," Virigosa promised.


	28. The Awakened

Ysera had seen everything from within the Dream. She had seen her friends, the Ancients of old, live, die, and live again. She had watched the waxing and waning of the Nightmare as it claimed her closest allies and threatened to claim even herself. She had slept through thousands of mortal lifetimes, watched the rise and fall of empires from afar. But towards the end of her slumber, her dreams had become troubled. No longer were her visions of what had been, but what could be and what would be. One of the first was the Sholazar Basin omen, which she had been warned about when she was still young, that signified a turning of ages. From there, her visions only became more worrisome. She saw her fallen brother, the one once known as Neltharion, leading an army of shadows. She saw once-great cities reduced to rubble, left lifeless and corrupted. She saw scores of fallen dragons, and snow stained with their blood.

And when the visions seemed that they could not become more bleak, Ysera awakened.

It was strange to once again touch a world that for so long she had watched from afar. For the last ten thousand years, whenever she had departed the Emerald Dream, it had been as a shadow of herself, a piece of her full being. Now, she stood in Azeroth in her full, physical form in a time of crisis. It reminded her of the War of the Ancients, except that this time the enemy was someone she had once called "brother". It had been much easier to fight demons, enemies that were completely alien. But the Dragon Aspects didn't get to choose the threats that Azeroth faced.

From the moment she awoke, Ysera had been busy. Mount Hyjal was one of the first places assaulted by Deathwing and his so-called Twilight Dragonflight, and as one of the Green Dragonflight's most sacred sites, Ysera had to defend it. With Hyjal mostly secured and the Nightmare kept at bay, however, the green aspect finally had time to visit Wyrmrest Temple.

She came unannounced. Walking into the temple was amusing, in a way. All dragons could instinctively identify an Aspect, provided they were not attempting to hide it, and so even in her elven form, Ysera was greeted with stares and hasty bows from all sides. It did not faze her, and she calmly requested an audience with her sister. Her request was granted before long, and a red drake brought her up to the chamber where the Life-Binder had been holding meetings earlier in the day.

"Alexstrasza," Ysera greeted, sitting across from the red aspect. "It's good to see you again."

"Sister," Alexstrasza sighed and ran her fingers along the armrest. "I was hoping you'd find the time to stop by."

"Much has transpired in my absence," Ysera said. "And even more has happened since I awoke. It was jarring to coordinate the defense of Hyjal so soon after returning to this realm."

"I've heard stories of the battles there," Alexstrasza said. "I'm glad that the Twilight's Hammer has been repelled. Now, most of the fighting is centered on the Twilight Highlands."

Ysera nodded. "I must admit, it's odd that they were driven off so easily. I can't imagine Deathwing starting a war like this unless he was certain that he had a chance to win it. And I've... In the Dream, I saw many things that concerned me."

"Some of the things you saw in the Dream are bound to be untrue," Alexstrasza pointed out, but there was a desperation to her words.

"Oh, yes," Ysera readily agreed. "Some things are realities that will not come to pass, others perhaps even my imagination. But _some_ of what I saw, at the very least, will come to be. And when it does..."

"It's times like this I envy Nozdormu," Alexstrasza said, gazing towards one of the walls.

"He has his own burdens to bear," Ysera pointed out. "We all do."

"Look at what happened to Malygos," Alexstrasza agreed. "I miss him."

Ysera nodded sadly. "I grieve along with his flight," she said. "It's no small task to find a successor, and indeed, he as a person can never be replaced. I understand the Blue Dragonflight managed to devise a ritual they think will work, though."

"Do you think-" Alexstrasza began to say.

Ysera shook her head immediately, already knowing what the Life-Binder was going to say. "No, sister. I've seen it, but there's nobody I can make out. I can't say who it will be yet- it could be Anachronos, for all we know."

"Right," Alexstrasza said hastily, bowing her head. "The Blue Dragonflight thinks it's possible to empower an Aspect through the flight bond. It's never been tried before- of course, there's never been a need to. We do know that it's possible to replace an Aspect, so it's not a fool's errand. Their idea is sound, and I have faith that they will be able to figure it out one way or another."

"I wish the best for them," Ysera said. "And for all of us. I fear for Azeroth, sister."

"I as well," Alexstrasza admitted. "We've suffered so much in these past years."

"Yet somehow, I fear that our darkest hours may be yet to come," Ysera's voice sounded more distant now, like she was slipping back into the Dream, and it sent chills up Alexstrasza's spine.

Alexstrasza sighed. "I hope we're wrong, sister."

Ysera nodded, and rose from her seat. "I believe it would be wise for me to take up residence in the Temple for the time being," she said. "Is my old room open?"

"Yes," Alexstrasza said. "And Anachronos has taken up residence in the next room over. I'll walk you there, and then we can talk more."

* * *

 _The snow was swirling all around her, but she could not feel a chill on her scales. For miles around, the bones of fallen dragons were scattered across the ground; thankfully, this vision did not seem to include the dying, like so many others had. Not so far in the distance, Wyrmrest Temple rose from the ground, a beacon of familiarity. Although the great Dragonshrines were out of sight, Ysera could tell that she was in the Dragonblight._

 _Ysera could see her sister on top of the temple now, in her dragon form. Alexstrasza was facing away from Ysera, looking out at something, and the green dragon followed her gaze. Almost immediately, she wished that she hadn't._

 _In the distance, a group of shadowy dragons, the twilight drakes that she had seen atop Mount Hyjal, were coming towards the Temple. At the front, leading them, was a massive twilight wyrm. Even from a distance, Ysera could tell that the twilight dragon radiated power that could only be equaled by an Aspect._

 _Alexstrasza turned around, allowing Ysera to see her face. Her expression was one of sorrow. Then the scene shattered in front of her eyes, the world twisting around her as the vision faded..._

Ysera opened her eyes and gasped for breath, taking a moment to collect her bearings. She had been meditating- it helped her distinguish her visions and her imagination from reality, but it also opened her up to new visions in the process. She stood up, poured herself a glass of water, and took a moment to collect herself. She stepped outside her room onto the balcony that overlooked the Dragonblight and looked into the sky, just to assure herself that her dreams were not yet reality. Every prophetic vision she had was just one of many possible futures, after all.

Thankfully, when she looked, there was not a single twilight dragon in the sky.

* * *

 **A/N: I have a lot of free time at the moment, which is why I've had some much time to update. I do prefer updating more frequently and I'm hoping to have part three done and published by mid-August or sooner just so this story doesn't end up going on for years. However, some things have come up in real life with one of my cats being very sick, so more updates probably won't come until Thursday or Wednesday and then resume the schedule of a chapter or more every one or two days. Towards the end of part two (which I'm actually pretty close to finishing), 3-4 chapters will be published at once, which is worth noting.**


	29. Time That Remains

Virigosa was standing alone not far from where the red and blue eggs were being kept. Rescuing the eggs had helped her trust Nethandris, although she still had a feeling that the wyrm was keeping something from her. For now, though, it seemed like both her and Nethandris had the same goals. Virigosa did plan on returning to the Wyrmrest Accord and participating in the war with them, but the wyrm did have a point when she said that the Aspects weren't prioritizing the Blue Dragonflight. That was perhaps the only reason Virigosa hadn't left already.

After some time watching the valley below the camp and the sun setting behind the mountains in the distance, Virigosa could hear the sound of another dragon approaching. She turned in time to see Nethandris land behind her. The wyrm walked up beside the drake and took a seat beside her, looking in the same direction.

"Is there something you need?" Virigosa asked.

Nethandris shook her head. "I just wanted to talk," she said. "I'm glad we got those eggs out of the twilights' hands."

"Me too," Virigosa said, turning slightly towards the wyrm and shifting to make herself more comfortable. She thought it was strange than Nethandris wanted to talk, but she wasn't going to turn down the offer. "I just want to know how they've been getting blue dragon eggs. There aren't many of us left, and almost all of us have already gone to Coldarra. Any fertile females would've taken their eggs with them."

"I hope we can find out," Nethandris said. "How many blue dragons do you think are in Coldarra?"

"I haven't been there since Deathwing came back," Virigosa said. "But I have to imagine that almost everyone is there. Considering what it was like during the Nexus War, I'd guess probably around four out of every five of the remaining blue dragons."

"I hear even Senegos and the adult members of his brood have departed for Coldarra," Nethandris noted.

"Senegos? Really?" Virigosa said, sitting back and giving Nethandris a thoughful look. "It's hard to believe he'd even show his face around Coldarra. The rest of the flight isn't very... He's not well-liked."

"So I've heard," Nethandris said. "But it's interesting to see a blue dragon say that firsthand."

"He doesn't get along well with most of the flight. He tends to isolate himself from what's going on outside elsewhere in Azeroth, and when he refused to participate in the Nexus War, we took that as a betrayal," Virigosa explained. "And he has multiple consorts. The Blue Dragonflight tends to frown upon taking more than one mate- except for Malygos, of course, or I suppose whoever the Aspect is- to maintain diversity in the breeding pool."

"You were always a strange bunch," Nethandris said, but it was playful more than anything.

There was silence for a time. In the valley below, two drakes, the green Balera and the red Feiystrasz, were playing some sort of game. They seemed to glitter in the sunset as they dove close to the grass below and rose again into the sky. Virigosa thought that it was nice to see something so innocent in spite of what was going on in the world. She couldn't remember ever doing something like that with Eyrigos. So much of her life, she had been busy with fighting- there'd never really been a moment to rest or to play.

"Do you like watching them?" Nethandris asked.

Virigosa chuckled a bit, not taking her eyes off of the drakes below. "I just like to imagine they're doing that in Coldarra right now."

Nethandris didn't answer for a long time, and Virigosa couldn't tell what she was thinking. "I'm sure they are," she said at last. "But I hear some drakes are out fighting with the Wyrmrest Accord, too."

"Oh, definitely. There were three of us that I saw in my part of Mount Hyjal. Drakes make up the bulk of the forces, and we aren't permitted a vote to choose the next Aspect. In my mind, I'm doing much more good out here than I would be arguing in Coldarra."

"How many drakes do you think have chosen that route?"

"Arguing in Coldarra? Probably most of us. We all want a say in who will lead our flight, even if that say isn't official. Or, if you mean on the front lines, I'd guess there's around fifty of us. That's judging from what the reds said to me at Wyrmrest Temple."

Nethandris shifted her wings, her eyes turning away from Virigosa and looking once again to the two drakes below. "And if you were there? At Coldarra?"

"I hope you realize that I plan on going once the Embrace is imminent," There was an long, awkward pause as Virigosa waited for Nethandris's response, and did not receive one. "Or are you asking which one I would argue for?"

"The latter," Nethandris answered.

"Arygos, reluctantly," Virigosa said. "I must admit I'm not particularly fond of either. Arygos isn't in favor of the war against Deathwing, which is my main issue with him. But I don't believe Kalecgos is a strong leader. He didn't support his flight in the Nexus War- that's well enough, and even I agree that now, in hindsight, it shouldn't have happened. But that's all he has going for him. It's insulting that he thinks saying 'I told you so' is a good enough reason for him to become the leader of our flight. I'm not a fan of Arygos, but I fear for the survival of the Blue Dragonflight if Kalecgos becomes Aspect. We're so fragile already."

"Arygos isn't going to protect Azeroth, though," Nethandris pointed out. "You're out here on the front lines. Isn't that your main priority?"

"It comes down to the lesser of two evils. I believe Azeroth can survive with Arygos's leadership, but I don't think my flight can survive under Kalecgos," Virigosa said. "I don't blame my flight for the awful choice we have ahead of us. I couldn't do any better."

"That's fair enough," Nethandris said. "That reminds me. I told Zoralus to come by. He has something for you."

"Really?" Virigosa seemed disinterested, her attention slipping back to the sunset and the drakes below.

It was some time before Zoralus's wingbeats came into earshot, and the drake landed carrying a satchel. Nethandris shifted into her elven form to take it, and gestured for Virigosa to do the same. The two dragons in their humanoid forms walked over to where Zoralus had landed.

"You know, Nethandris, you're perfectly capable of carrying a satchel yourself," Zoralus quibbled.

"I'm a wyrm, Zoralus, I can't just fit things around my neck anymore," Nethandris pointed out. "Unless you'd like me to carry it in my teeth?"

Nethandris pulled some parchment out of the bag, and looked them over. Zoralus sat down next to them, watching the two dragonesses. After checking all the documents for something, she passed them to the blue drake next to her. Virigosa gave Nethandris a quizzical look before she looked over the papers herself.

"You should read them," Nethandris said. "Your flight's writing is as difficult to understand as your accents."

Virigosa took hardly any note of the wyrm's comment. "Late autumn 10162, egg laid by Misagosa and Voralygos... Identified as high potential candidate... Early winter, egg given willingly by parents to the wyrm Eszragos," Virigosa read aloud. "Egg returned to parents... Late spring 10163, egg hatched, whelp named 'Virigosa'."

"That's just the overview, it goes into more depth in the other pages," Nethandris said. "Look down at the Nexus War records."

"Malygos partnered me with Eyrigos," Virigosa said after a moment. "I didn't know he did it personally. But I guess that makes sense with Eszragos, both Eyrigos and I, we must've been... He told me all of Eszragos's drakes were dead."

"Who did? Eyrigos?" Nethandris asked.

"Yeah. He told me before I left Coldarra for Hyjal that all of Eszragos's drakes had died in the Nexus War. But if both of us were Eszragos's drakes, then, well," Virigosa shook her head. "He was a traitor, you know. I found out and killed him in Hyjal. He was passing information to the Twilight's Hammer. The Green Dragonflight never knew, I don't think anyone but I knew."

"Really? Impressive for you to find out if even the Green Dragonflight couldn't," Nethandris noted.

"Yeah, I- nevermind how I found out," Virigosa said. She was almost embarrassed about what had happened during the battle, about how she ended up speaking with that twilight drake. "You say a source of yours got this from the Nexus? Do you think they'd be able to get Eyrigos's records?"

Nethandris looked thoroughly amused. "I understand the importance of keeping your sources secret, so I won't ask," she said. "But yes, I should be able to retrieve Eyrigos's records if you think that'll help."

"Thank you," Virigosa said.

"I'm glad we could have this conversation," Nethandris said, stepping back and once again shifting into her dragon form. "We're going to be working on an attack plan for the facility the Twilight's Hammer has in the Hinterlands, and I'd like you to help us. I'll tell you when we begin."

"I'd like that," Virigosa said.

With a nod of acknowledgement, Nethandris flew off, Zoralus not far behind her.

* * *

 **Between putting down my cat and getting involved in a few other things, until now, I just haven't been as interested in writing as I thought I'd be. It might be a bit longer before I do any more updates- this particular chapter was written a few weeks back and was intended to be published with another, but I realized that I want to finish what remains of part two before I post anything else just to make sure everything works well together.**


	30. Politics

"I'm not going to mince words. Kalecgos is a traitor, nothing else. He left each and every one of us for dead, from the drakes on the front lines, like me, to the whelps in their shells. Not only that, he was an accomplice to the so-called 'Dragonqueen' in the murder of Malygos. Kalecgos is an integral part of the reason our flight is in the state it is today. It is appalling that Kalecgos is even permitted to stand on this stage today and present himself as a candidate for Aspect after he was complicit in the genocide of his own people, us."

Mensagosa stood on a platform above the Nexus in front of a crowd of dozens of blue dragons. She had garnered quite the reputation for her spirited, if polarizing, speeches in support of Arygos. It was for that reason he had chosen her to represent him at several public forums the Blue Dragonflight held as they choose their new Aspect. Across from her, on the same platform, was Kalecgos. The wyrm was clearly frustrated with what she was saying about him, but he patiently waited for his turn to speak.

"Everyone who stayed loyal to our flight lost someone in the Nexus War. Friends, family, children. Such exalted dragons as Saragosa, Eregos, Eszragos, and of course, the Spellweaver himself were lost in the fight for our survival. So now, I ask that you visualize someone you lost. Imagine what they would say if they could see our flight, assembled today, seriously considering an accomplice to their murder, an accomplice to the genocide of the Blue Dragonflight, as our leader. As our Aspect. And yet, Kalecgos still dares claim the moral high ground. It takes an incredible amount of arrogance for him to think that the Blue Dragonflight will stand for this. It is for that reason that I have sworn Sindragosa's Oath to Arygos."

The mention of that caused the crowd to stir. Sindragosa's Oath was named after a famous speech made by Malygos's first consort in which she promised her undying loyalty to Malygos. While not binding in any way, it held immense cultural significance to the Blue Dragonflight. Until the Nexus War, no dragon had sworn Sindragosa's Oath to anybody except Malygos, the leader of all blue dragons; Kalecgos was one of the first to break that tradition by swearing it to Alexstrasza instead. If Mensagosa had truly sworn Sindragosa's Oath to Arygos, it was very provocative, indicating that she already considered Arygos to be the leader of the Blue Dragonflight.

"Kalecgos claims that we need to take responsibility for our actions in the Nexus War. To that I say, haven't we suffered enough? Anyone who remained loyal to the flight knows of how much we've lost. Our flight's numbers were halved during the campaign of genocide the Red Dragonflight waged upon us. Our whelps were slaughtered by red dragons and so-called heroes employed by the one who refers to herself the 'Aspect of Life'. We have existed on the brink of extinction for the last ten thousand years, but never have we stood closer to that possibility than today. We have Kalecgos to thank for that, in large part.

"It's obvious from Kalecgos's crimes against our flight that he cares not for our well-being or prosperity. So why, then, does he seek leadership of our flight? To that, I see three possibilities. Out of ambition, out of arrogance, or as a puppet to Alexstrasza. He may be in search of power, and think us foolish enough to choose him as our aspect. He may be seeking a platform that allows him to further disrespect the dead and preach to us about how he 'told us so' when it came to the Nexus War. Or, perhaps, he's here on the orders of Alexstrasza. It's a natural progression of events. She murders our Aspect, so she can place a puppet in his place and increase her own power. Kalecgos is that puppet.

"So, my beloved flight, I ask that you take a careful look at Kalecgos's words. He takes you for fools. I beg that you do not buy into the fantasies he presents, and instead look around at what has become of our flight. I ask that you remember the dead, and think about what they would say could they be here with us today, listening to an accomplice to their murder. Thank you."

Mensagosa backed away from the center of the stage, allowing Kalecgos his turn to speak. The wyrm cleared his throat and looked out over the assembled dragons.

"It is my preference to simply present my plans for restoring our flight's status in the world, but I must defend myself against the fallacious allegations presented by Mensagosa here today. I care very, very deeply about the Blue Dragonflight. I stand here by my own choice, not by the will of any other, and with sadness in my heart. Malygos's death has brought sorrow to me, and indeed, the world, but it had to be done. His actions could have destroyed Azeroth had they been allowed to continue. Furthermore, exterminating mortal users of magic would have been a mistake. Several mortal organizations, the Kirin Tor foremost among them, regulate the use of magic themselves and ensure that it is handled responsibly. It is my belief that we can forge mutually beneficial partnerships with them and other such groups.

"The truth of the matter is, our struggling flight cannot recover unless we take responsibility for what we've done and move beyond it. Things have changed greatly since the golden age of dragons, when a sane Malygos ruled over our flight. We need to adapt to these changes if we hope to survive and perhaps even thrive in this new age. Look inside, and ask yourselves whether polarizing rhetoric and conspiracy theories are the answer. I'm not a perfect dragon, and I'll be the first to admit that. I'm not Malygos as he was during his best days. I won't tell you that I'm the best choice for Aspect- that is for all of you to decide, not me. I only request that you look beyond appeals to emotion and examine the facts for what they are, and make your decision based on that. Ask yourself, can we solve our problems like this, with scapegoats and polarizing rhetoric? Thank you."

The audience had not reacted to either speech particularly strongly, except for the mention of Sindragosa's Oath. With both of the final speakers having concluded and the sun setting over Coldarra, chatter started up in the crowd, and dragons started to disperse back to their sleeping quarters.


	31. A Quiet World

It did not take long for Araxion to realize that he could roam freely through the Hinterlands facility, provided he didn't interfere with any other projects and that Kerelion was always able to find him. He spent much of his time alone, however, pondering the motives of the Twilight's Hammer and his dragonflight. It was easier to think in the relative privacy the Hinterlands facility offered, as opposed to the constant chaos of the Bastion of Twilight.

One day, when wandering the halls, Araxion was surprised to hear how empty it was. Normally, cultists and a few drakes patrolled the halls- Araxion suspected it more was to ensure that some of Kerelion's more dangerous experiments didn't get loose than anything- but there was almost nobody. After some time, he emerged into one of the conference rooms, and saw a single drake standing guard at the wall opposite from him. He didn't even have a chance to open his mouth and ask where everyone was, because the guard spoke first.

"Shouldn't you be making your way to Northrend?" she demanded.

Araxion shook his head. "Is that where everyone is? I'm not one of the guards, Kerelion is... I guess I'm one of Kerelion's projects."

The guard stepped forward and looked Araxion over for a moment, then suddenly and unexpectedly dropped into a bow. "Oh, forgive me. You must be Araxion. My deepest apologies, my lord," she said. "My name is Demasiona. I'm in charge of the guards here."

It felt strange, being bowed to and addressed in such a way. Was that what it was like to be an Aspect? Araxion brushed the thoughts away and turned his attention back to Demasiona. "No need for such formality, you can get up. It's nice to meet you, Demasiona," he said. "Where is everyone?"

Demasiona rose to her feet, and Araxion thought she almost looked embarrassed. "Almost all of the Hinterlands guards are being sent to the front lines of our offensive in Northrend. I will be, too, but for the next two days I'm the one responsible for making sure we all leave the facility safely."

"You're leaving the facility here with no guards?" Araxion tilted his head. "Isn't this place supposed to house some of the Black Dragonflight's highest priority projects?"

"It's also the most secret, and being underground, one of the hardest for dragons to get to," Demasiona pointed out. "Kerelion and Sintharia have determined that the Hinterlands facility can run just as well with a skeleton crew. And if you lower the number of guards, that means that you have to get less food from the surrounding areas, meaning we have less drakes going out to get it, meaning there's less of a chance of anyone becoming suspicious and discovering this place's existence."

"I suppose," Araxion said. "You say they're sending you to Northrend?"

"I've heard that they're planning something big on the day of the Embrace, when the attention of the dragonflights is focused on what's happening in Coldarra," Demasiona said. "And they're sending us all to Northrend. Coincidence? Maybe. I don't think so."

"I see," Araxion said. "Thank you."

* * *

From that day onward, everything in the Hinterlands facility was far quieter than it had ever been.

Kerelion came in a few times a day to talk to Araxion and update him on what was happening across Azeroth, but other than that, he was completely on his own. Dragons tended to deal well with a lack of contact, so Araxion didn't have any issuse being alone, and indeed, his isolation gave him more time to think. So think he did. It felt like he was tempting fate with every question he had, somehow, but there was no way for Kerelion or anyone else on Azeroth to know what was in Araxion's heart. There was a sort of appeal in the danger.

He thought back to Mount Hyjal, when he had met the blue dragon Eyrigos. Eyrigos had willingly betrayed his own flight and the dragons he was working with, even knowing how dangerous it was. Even though Eyrigos knew that the Twilight Dragonflight didn't trust him, he continued supplying information to their side. Araxion hadn't been able to understand at the time, why Eyrigos had done it. He hadn't thought about it much at all then. But now Araxion was beginning to understand what it was like to think for himself. He was beginning to see how someone like Eyrigos would be willing to put their life on the line for a cause they believed in.

Araxion had done something similar to Eyrigos in that regard, hadn't he? He had told Virigosa that Eyrigos was passing information to the Twilight's Hammer. Sure, Araxion hadn't done that because he believed in Virigosa's cause- it had just slipped out- but if anyone found out that he had said that, the consequences could be similarly dire. There was a price for everything, he reminded himself. But by the time they realized that he had harmed his flight in some small way, he suspected that it would be too late. He was going to be an Aspect, and by that point he doubted anyone would try to punish him for that incident.

* * *

Kerelion woke Araxion up early the next morning.

"It's been awfully quiet as of late, hasn't it?" Kerelion remarked. "Forgive me for not coming by, I've been quite busy the other projects. I do have some news for you."

"What is it?" Araxion said.

"Our agents have been unable to locate anymore of Eszragos's drakes. Those damn cultists," Kerelion said, growling a little. "Fools, the lot of them. You know how I feel. But I have arranged for the transfer of some nether drakes to our facility here. We're going to go with our second plan, and have you absorb the essences of Netherwing dragons. It's simpler on my end anyways, even if it will take longer."

"That sounds great," Araxion said. "You know where to find me. Whenever you're ready."

"I should also tell you that the Destroyer is coming to visit after his business in Northrend is wrapped up," Kerelion said. "He'd like to take a look at what we've done and our plans."

"Deathwing?" Araxion said, a bit surprised. "It'll be an honor."

"Let's hope it all goes well," Kerelion said. "I'll be seeing you, Araxion."


	32. Nethandris's Game

"We have no idea what kind of resistance we'll be facing," Nethandris said. "It's fair to assume that we may run into a number of twilight drakes assigned to guard the facility, but apart from that, we're almost completely in the dark. What we've discovered suggests that this location is used for research, so we can guess that we might also encounter a number of cultists who staff the facility, and perhaps one or two black dragons who oversee operations."

A large number of dragons were set to participate in the raid on the Hinterlands facility. Only around a dozen were currently at the meeting as they finalized their plans, while the rest of their forces would receive instructions closer to the day. Those present were either strategists or dragons who had volunteered for particularly important roles. Among the latter group was Virigosa, who kept mostly to herself and spent most of the meeting leaning against a wall. It was her first time inside Nethandris's cave, and she was struck by how many maps and other documents were scattered carelessly around the floor, and in some cases, stuck to the wall.

"We do know, however, that the facility is underground. For that reason, I believe our best shot at getting in would be deception," Nethandris continued on. "We slip in a few dragons disguised as cultists, and get them to open the facility from within. The structure has to be built for dragons, so once we're inside, I suspect we'll have little issue navigating even with our size."

"I'd like to recommend that Virigosa and myself infiltrate the facility," Sathius said immediately.

Nethandris looked over to him, but she didn't seem at all surprised. All the other eyes in the room fell to Virigosa, who was looking at the green dragon with confusion in her eyes. Why did he volunteer _her_? They had hardly even spoken with each other, and certainly not about the Hinterlands operation.

It didn't seem that Virigosa had to voice her questions, because Sathius answered regardless. "I have experience disguising myself as a mortal, and as a green dragon, I might be able to slip us into the Emerald Dream if we run into trouble," he explained. "And as a blue dragon, Virigosa can help us locate and diffuse any magical traps."

"She can also help revitalize any blue dragon eggs we find that are drained of mana," Nethandris added with hardly a moment of hesitation.

"Sure, I can do that," Virigosa said. "If you want me to. I can fit in among mortals well enough."

"Perfect! So you two will find a way to let us in from the inside and if you're caught, you should be more than capable of defending yourselves," Nethandris said cheerfully. "Once you find a way in, we'll eliminate resistance and pick apart the facility. That phase of the plan will have to be decided once we're actually in the facility and know what we're dealing with."

A murmur of affirmation went through the dragons in the cave. Nethandris, Sathius, and a few other dragons continued discussing plans for the battle. Virigosa listened, but not much of it related to the task she had been assigned She couldn't help but find it odd that Sathius and Nethandris had been so quick to assign her to a role and praise her skills, despite their explanations. Nethandris had been the one to suggest Virigosa volunteer for a special role, so perhaps that was just what they had already had in mind.

"What we know suggests that much of Azeroth, including the Wyrmrest Accord and the Twilight's Hammer, will be watching what's going on in Coldarra the day of the Embrace," Nethandris said. "That's why the attack on the Hinterlands facility will be taking place on that day. The Twilight's Hammer will be distracted, watching what's going on in Coldarra, and they'll be expecting their enemies to do the same, making our attack even more unexpected."

 _That_ caught Virigosa's attention. She didn't say anything, not yet, but all the same Nethandris was clearly looking at her where she was standing against the wall. Their eyes met for a moment, then the wyrm turned away. The meeting was almost done, and Virigosa didn't wait long after Nethandris had finished speaking to confront her.

"You know I'm going to Coldarra for the Embrace," Virigosa said. "So why did you put me in this position?"

The two dragons were standing together off to the side now. Nethandris leaned against the wall and faced the blue drake, seemingly unconcerned. A few dragons had already left the cave, while a few groups had gathered elsewhere and were discussing what they'd planned.

"The Embrace is the best date to do the attack, and I have to do what's best for my people," Nethandris said. "I understand that the Embrace is important to you, but I can't change the date just to accommodate you."

"I'm not asking that!" Virigosa protested, growling a little. "You know I'm going to Coldarra. I don't care when you do your little thing, but why do you practically force me into a vital role when you know I'm not planning on being there?"

"I'm sorry, Virigosa. But we need you. You can disable the any traps, revitalize any blue dragon-"

"Like hell you do. The Twilight's Hammer's spellwork is absolutely pathetic, like what I'd expect of a mortal child, and you don't even need to be a mage to revitalize blue eggs. We haven't even _seen_ any blue dragon eggs that have been drained of mana, so I don't know why you're bringing it up. Zoralus, Sathius, probably even you could do the exact same thing you're saying I'm needed for."

"Virigosa, we _do_ need you. You've seen my forces. How many of my drakes do you think have real combat experience? You fought in the Nexus War, you've fought the twilights in Hyjal. You're one of the few people here who actually knows what she's doing."

"Nethandris, do you have any idea how important this is to me? It's the coronation of a new Aspect, _my_ new Aspect. It's never happened before, and will likely never happen again. Asking me to miss that for this silly attack on a Twilight's Hammer facility... You're asking a lot."

"I know, and I'm sorry. You said it yourself, that you think you can do more good out here than arguing in Coldarra. Wouldn't Malygos prefer you be here, helping recover eggs of your flight, than sitting around watching your flight tear itself apart with politics?"

"You were doing well until you said that," Virigosa glared at the other dragon. "You're a snake, Nethandris."

"I'm sorry, Virigosa. I just thought..." Nethandris shook her head. "I'm sorry. I just want to know, will you at least consider staying?"

"Against my better judgement," Virigosa said.

She didn't waste another moment. The blue drake turned and walked out of the cave, leaving Nethandris alone against the wall. Sathius broke off from a group a short distance away and walked over to his mate. She turned to greet him, but not before stealing a glance at the cave entrance Virigosa had left through.

"Did you get her to stay?" Sathius asked.

"She said she'd consider it," Nethandris said. "But if she even let me speak, then she probably already wants to stay. If it gets that far, I've usually already won."

"High stakes game we're playing," Sathius said. "We'd better hope this works."

"We've already lost so much," Nethandris said. "Keeping a pureblooded blue dragon alive will be important if this goes the way I think it will. And, one of our contacts in Wyrmrest passed me some interesting information. Alexstrasza knows Virigosa. Something about a foiled assassination attempt."

"Really? That might make her even more important in the negotiations, then."

"She's a person, Sathius. I don't like talking about people like this. But you are right. If Alexstrasza is willing to listen to her..."

"Virigosa isn't going to be very happy when she finds out."

"After everything I've pulled? I think she might try to kill me."

"She won't get the chance. We'll get her to Wyrmrest one way or another."

"I know, I know. We just have to be careful."


	33. Kerelion Hates Cultists

**This chapter wasn't planned, but I realized there needed to be something between the last chapter and the next few, which is why this is so short.**

* * *

"It's going to take how long?" Kerelion demanded.

The black wyrm was sitting behind his desk, paperwork scattered carelessly across the room. The focus of his ire was a young human cultist, who looked absolutely terrified. She was reading from an official-looking piece of paper, or perhaps just using it to cover her face. The black wyrm leaned closer, tapping his fingers impatiently.

"I said, how long?" he repeated. "That can't be right."

"T-two weeks for twenty drakes, Lord Kerelion, sir," the cultist repeated.

"They do realize that we switched our focus from the Blue Dragonflight to the Netherwing a week ago," Kerelion said, slowly. It seemed like maybe he'd leave the messenger alone after all. "And that the Embrace is in three days. Deathwing is coming two days after that. I am _not_ going to let the Master arrive with absolutely nothing to show for our efforts. Make it very clear to your High Priestess that both of our lives hang in the balance. Deathwing is going to kill both of us when he realizes we've gone nowhere. Or he'll kill her, and reassign me to breeding duty."

"I am led to believe she's aware of that, Lord Kerelion," the cultist said. "She does have the ability to send one or possibly two Netherwing drakes ahead of the others, and that's what she's offering."

A pause. Kerelion paused to think for a moment. "It'll take about two months to transform a twilight drake into a dragon of Aspect-level power, and Deathwing knows this," he said. "If your High Priestess can send at least one Netherwing drake ahead, we'd at least be able to demonstrate that we've started. It just might work."

"I will bring her the news, Lord Kerelion, sir," the cultist said.

"I'll be moving our project to the block of the facility restricted from your kind," Kerelion said. "The cultists. I will _not_ have you interfering with our project. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Lord Kerelion," the cultist replied. "Do you want me to tell your Ultraxion, or-"

"No," Kerelion snapped. "He doesn't need to be exposed to any more of your stupidity than he already has. I will move him myself, when we're ready."

"Understood, sir," the cultist muttered, turning towards the exit.


	34. Remember the Day

It was the day of the Embrace. That meant less to Sariona than it meant to most, but it was something she had to pay attention to nonetheless.

The days leading up to the Embrace had been strange for everyone. Sariona had continued to grow, and was now one of the largest twilight dragons besides those that could be considered proper wyrms. In the meantime, the Bastion of Twilight had slowly emptied, as thousands of twilight dragons were called to a mission in Northrend. Sariona suspected that Deathwing was planning to take Wyrmrest Temple while the Wyrmrest Accord was preoccupied with the selection of the Blue Aspect, but she couldn't be sure. What she did know, however, was that they were launching an attack on the Red Dragonflight in the Eastern Kingdoms as a diversion. That was where she would play her part.

Sariona waited behind a ridge between the twilight base and the Vermillion Redoubt. A few hundred drakes sat behind her, waiting for their cue to begin the assault. Sariona wasn't their commander- that honor was left to the higher ranking cultists- but as the largest dragon there, she would be important in intimidating the Red Dragonflight. As far as the Red Dragonflight was concerned, there were only twilight drakes, no adult twilight dragons. Sariona would be the first that they'd see, and she would ensure that it was something they would not soon forget.

"The moment is upon us!" The sound came at last from a cultist using magic to amplify his voice. "Their doom comes on twilight wings! Show the Red Dragonflight what they face!"

Sariona lifted herself into the sky, followed by the first wave of twilight drakes. This amount of dragons would be sufficient to defeat the forces at the Vermillion Redoubt, but there would be more coming after the battle had raged for long enough. Not only was this a distraction, it was an attempt to crush any red dragon resistance close to the Bastion of Twilight. This attack just had to be large enough to divert the Red Dragonflight's attention from Northrend in order to consider it a success, but there was no reason not to score a major victory in the process.

It took around a minute of flying for the first red dragons to come into sight, scouts sent to watch Grim Batol. They caught sight of the twilight dragons almost immediately, and their panic at seeing so many was obvious. Some went back to the Vermillion Redoubt, while a few other drakes seemed to be trying to scrape together some sort of defense. A red wyrm rose from behind a hill, beholding the host of twilight dragons. Sariona could see the fear in its eyes.

 _ **The dragons show their teeth!**_ The Masters were gleeful.

They were close to the Redoubt now, and Sariona locked talons with the red wyrm. He had a slight weight advantage over her, but she was still able to force him to the ground, where she pinned him by his wings. The wyrm struggled but was unable to free himself. He opened his mouth to say something, but was unable to get the words out, choking on his own breath. Sariona leaned her muzzle down to meet his, and let out a deep growl.

 _ **Make them fear.**_

Sariona obeyed without question. She slit the wyrm's throat, and his struggles became even more feeble. The twilight dragon rose her head to the sky, and cried, "This is the fate that awaits you all!"

In a swift motion, Sariona released her hold on the wyrm's wings to plunge her talons deep into his chest. At her command, wisps of shadow began appearing on the cream-colored plates of the wyrm's belly, and spread rapidly across his entire body. Sariona released her hold on him, and let the wyrm writhe in pain on the ground. He screamed as the shadow magic burned him from the inside, his cries echoing through the Redoubt and likely some distance beyond.

 _ **They know not of the power they challenge. You must teach them to be afraid.**_

Sariona spent a moment admiring the battlefield. The sky was filled with twilight drakes wherever she looked, and they were swarming over red dragons wherever they could be found. This place was a lot different now than it had been months before, when Sariona came with Araxion to try and take down a few wyrms. No, _this_ assault on the Vermillion Redoubt could hardly be called a battle. It was a bloodbath. The Red Dragonflight never could've imagined that the Twilight Dragonflight had this many dragons.

And Northrend had this many twilight dragons several times over, all preparing to strike when the moment was right.

Another dragon dared challenge Sariona, an adult dragon who thought that she could catch her off-guard. Sariona was larger than this new challenger, and it was fairly easy to gain the upper hand. Once the red dragon was pinned down, Sariona blinded her with shadowfire, and stopped for a moment to think of a method of execution that would please the Masters.

"Why... You... Why?" This red dragon had not lost the ability to speak, it seemed. "I know you're going to kill me. But please, first, tell me why. What do you want?"

"Bold words," Sariona said with a growl. "You're pitiful."

"Please..." the red begged. "Tell me why you're doing this."

 _ **She does not deserve an answer.**_

She tore the red dragon's throat and dragged her talons along the red's stomach plates, before releasing and leaving her to bleed out. Sariona managed to catch a glimpse of the two moons through a break in the twilight drakes above. The moons were drawing closer, but it would still be a few hours before the Embrace proper. _Perfect._ They could keep the fighting in the Vermillion Redoubt and the Wetlands going for that long, they'd just need to toy with them a bit.

 _ **The tree is a symbol of hope. Take it from them.**_

Ah, the tree. Sariona turned her head towards the massive tree, the most notable feature of the Vermillion Redoubt. She flew towards it unopposed, as the rest of the adult red dragons were being swarmed by twilight drakes. Sariona looked over the tree for a long moment, and then decided her next step. She began tearing away at some of the tree's bark, before she dug her talons in it, similar to what she had done to the first red wyrm. The area around her talons began to harden like stone and turn black, and it began spread. After some time, Sariona released her hold on the tree, and stepped back to admire her handiwork.

The tree blackened and died quickly. The shadow magic crept up the trunk and began infecting the leaves and branches, turning the once-vibrant red leaves a dark purple. As the breeze passed through, several of the leaves came off and blew onto the grass below, starting to leave the branches bare. As she surveyed the battlefield, Sariona could see the expressions of a few of the red dragons as they saw what had become of their precious tree.

 _ **They look at what you have done and despair.**_

But there was still so much more to be done. Sariona made her way back to the fighting. The Embrace proper was a ways away yet.


	35. The Hinterlands Facility

The day of the Embrace. So it had finally come.

Virigosa gazed wistfully up at the sky, where the two moons were drawing ever closer. The actual Embrace had not actually happened yet, but it was obvious that it was close. She wondered what they were doing in Coldarra right now. Probably still debating, she decided. Or maybe they were watching the moons, just like she was. She could hardly believe that she had actually agreed to this.

"I'm sorry," The voice came from behind her.

Virigosa spun around and growled as she recognized the dragon in humanoid form. "Nethandris," she said. "Don't even try."

"I'm... I won't," Nethandris said. "I just wanted to say that Sathius is waiting for you. He's ready to begin whenever you are."

"Fine. I'm coming."

They had arrived in the Hinterlands early in the morning, just as the sun was rising, and had set up a makeshift base. Most of the dragons were in their humanoid forms, waiting for their orders. Nethandris's base was around an hour's flight away from where they were, so it wouldn't be too difficult to call for reinforcements. Virigosa made her way over to Sathius, who was waiting in his night elven form. He was dressed in twilight cultist robes, and had some beside him in the grass.

"It's good to see you, Virigosa," he greeted. "You know the plan. Dress up as cultists, pretend we're from the camp we raided a few weeks ago. I'm not sure what species these robes are meant for, but I doubt the Twilight's Hammer really cares much about that."

"Right," Virigosa said. "I'll use a human form and see if they fit. Two night elves would probably look suspicious. They'd be worried we were sentinels or something."

Virigosa shapeshifted into a human and changed into the cultist clothing. Sathius and Nethandris had scouted out the entrance to the facility earlier, so the green wyrm led the way. It was, to Virigosa's surprise, just a door in the side of a rocky wall, something that almost looked like a mix of high elf and dwarven architecture, hidden with vines and other foliage. There was no visible handle. Sathius took an amulet and pressed it into a slot on the door. There was a click, then a strange echo from inside. Something slid on the door, then it swung outwards and opened.

"Brother, sister," the cultist at the door said. "Where are you from?"

"Our camp in the Alterac Mountains was destroyed by adventurers," Sathius explained, holding out some of the papers the dragons had taken. "We managed to save some of the documents, including some transport logs with this location. We were hoping maybe we could be reassigned from here."

The cultist gave him and Virigosa an unreadable look, and snatched the papers. He looked them over, glanced back at the dragons in disguise, and after what seemed like forever gave them a nod. "Thank you for recovering these," he said. "Come inside. I'll see what we can do for you. We could use a few more janitorial staff."

Virigosa and Sathius stepped in through the door, and the cultist shut it behind them. With light from the outside cut off, this particular hallway was almost pitch black. Sathius took that as his cue, and slipped a dagger from his side. He grabbed the cultist before they could make a sound, put a hand over his mouth, and slit his throat before dropping the body to the ground. The sound echoed a bit, and Virigosa froze, turning in Sathius's direction.

"Already?" she hissed in a low voice. "Killing everyone we see is a great way to get caught."

"It was dark, and no one else is here," Sathius said. "It was a golden opportunity."

"There's nowhere to hide the body in these halls," Virigosa said. "Let me burn it. They won't notice a pile of ashes when it's this dark."

They stopped for a moment, and after checking the body for papers, keys, or anything else that might be important. After grabbing a few papers, Virigosa leaned down set it on fire. Sathius and Virigosa proceeded down the hallway, eventually reaching a longer, well-lit hallway that extended far to both their left and right. The hallways were wide enough for even an adult dragon to pass in most places. But most strangely, apart from themselves, there was no sign of life. There were no footsteps, no figures in the distance passing between the doors.

"I guess we're lucky someone was near the door at all," Sathius remarked.

"We could get lost in a place like this," Virigosa said. "Where is everyone? If this is really a facility with eggs and experiments, like Blackrock was under Nefarian..."

"This place is pretty structurally sound, it almost reminds me of Ironforge," Sathius said. "Maybe we can just destroy the entrance. A magical explosion, maybe? I know the Blue Dragonflight did similar things during the Nexus War."

"It would be... Well, I guess that could work," Virigosa said. "It might tire me out, depending on how strong it has to be, but I could do it. I'd be worried that this place might collapse, though, even if they did use dwarven architectural techniques."

"We're supposed to destroy this place anyways, I'm sure we can just dig through the ruins for any documents," Sathius said.

"But don't we think there might be eggs in here?" Virigosa pointed out. "They could die if a collapse happens."

"This might be our only chance to save them at all," Sathius said. "I doubt it will collapse, especially the whole structure. If anything, it'd only be that first hallway."

"Listen, that door in the front is pretty big. We're dragons, I'm sure we can just rip it off and let everyone else in," Virigosa said. "Drakes should be able to fit through, and everyone else will just have to use a humanoid form."

"You're no fun," Sathius said. Virigosa growled, and turned back towards the door.

The two dragons walked back through the dark hallway. Sathius undid the lock and held the door open, while Virigosa stepped outside and shapeshifted into her dragon form. She grasped the door firmly in her talons, and flew backwards into the air. The door came off cleanly and fell onto the ground with a clatter. Satisfied, Virigosa landed on the ground beside the green wyrm.

Sathius shifted into his dragon form, and peered inside the entrance. "Go back and tell Nethandris we found a way in," he said. "I'll make sure no one comes out to investigate and lives to tell about it."


	36. The Price of Power

**A/N: This chapter actually takes place around 8 hours before the last chapter, with Virigosa. Originally it was meant to be simultaneous, but that didn't really work out.**

* * *

"Araxion," Kerelion said.

As Araxion woke up, he realized that he was not in his room. He staggered to his feet, shook the sleep from his body, and looked at Kerelion. The black wyrm was standing in the doorway in his human form, and he looked very pleased with himself. Araxion couldn't help but feel that that wasn't a good thing.

"It's good to see you, Kerelion," Araxion gave a hasty bow. "Why have you brought me here?"

"Monsters! The both of you!" The words were in Draconic, and belonged to a female voice.

Araxion spun around and was faced with the sight of a unfamiliar, bizarre-looking dragon. Her body was oddly-shaped and covered in black and white skin instead of scales, and she almost seemed to be flickering in and out of the physical world. While her wings and legs were all chained, she struggled nonetheless against her bindings, like she was trying to throw herself at Araxion and Kerelion. The twilight drake looked back at Kerelion, somewhat confused.

"This is a nether drake," Kerelion said. "You're going to absorb its essence. It-"

"I have a name!" the nether drake spat, her voice becoming more shrill with every word. "It's Iraeku!"

"It, as you can see, has been a bit fussy today," Kerelion said. "I'm sorry I took you here without waking you. I wanted to make sure we did this in a place the cultists are restricted from. They don't need to get any ideas."

Araxion turned and stared at the chained nether drake. Iraeku growled, and even though she couldn't hurt him, Araxion didn't want to take another step towards her. She seemed to notice, and flung herself at her bonds with renewed vigor. Araxion cast a glance back over his shoulder at Kerelion, who was still grinning. He finally gathered the courage to stare Iraeku in the eye and take a step forward.

"If you had anything close to a soul, you would release me and give the merciful death you always deny!" Iraeku sounded like she was mad. "But you won't. None of you ever do! I at least, am the one to stand against you to the end."

"I..." Araxion cast an uncertain glance back towards Kerelion, who looked a bit disgusted.

"Not even going to make it quick, are you?" Iraeku challenged.

"What are you waiting for, Araxion?" Kerelion asked.

"I just..." Araxion hesitated. "I'm not entirely sure how I'm supposed to absorb Netherwing essences."

"Oh," Kerelion relaxed a little. "I'm not entirely sure myself. Twilight dragons all have natural vampiric tendencies, so I've always been under the impression that you just... know how."

"I'm sure I'll figure it out," Araxion said, flexing his talons on the cold stone below.

"We're not on a schedule or anything," Kerelion said. "Take as much time as you need."

"Murderers!" Iraeku began a long stream of accusations. Araxion couldn't help but feel sorry for her. Captivity had clearly taken a toll on her mental state.

He did have some idea of how do this. He took a few more steps forward, and pinned down Iraeku's tail in his talons. A small trickle of her magic was flowing into his body, but he could feel so much more underneath her skin, flowing like a river. And he could have it all. He wanted to make it his, wanted so badly to feel it course underneath his skin and crackle over his hide. Visions flitted through his head of Araxion- no, Ultraxion, Aspect of Twilight, flying towards Wyrmrest Temple, countless twilight dragons in tow. He imagined the tower falling, dragons scattering in his wake. All of it could be his, if he just-

 _No._ He released his grip on her tail and recoiled, horrified. _That's not me._ He shook his head, unsure of what had come over him, and stared at the drake chained to the wall. She didn't deserve this, either. He wasn't going to do this to himself. He wasn't going to do this to _her_.

"Coward! You can't even finish the job!" Iraeku taunted.

"No," Araxion turned towards Araxion, his voice shaky. "I... This is what you want me to do?"

"If you want to please the Masters," Kerelion said, clearly caught off guard. The black wyrm quickly caught himself, and snarled at Araxion. "This is what you need to do."

"No. I won't," Araxion said. "It's not worth it. She doesn't deserve this. Nobody does."

Kerelion looked stunned. He stood there blankly for a few moments, then stepped up to Araxion and touched the drake's jaw with a surprisingly gentle hand. "You were a black egg originally..." he murmured.

Araxion, for a moment, thought that Kerelion might not have been angry. Then the black wyrm dropped his hand and marched back to where he had been, fury written across his face. "You're an abomination," he said. "Clever child. You've tricked us all. Your time in this world is very short now, Araxion, and I intend to make it very painful, so enjoy these last easy moments. Tell me, now, how long have you been planning this?"

"You'll tear each other apart!" Iraeku sounded delighted.

Araxion was more confused than he had been. Kerelion raised a hand and a spear of shadow magic formed, hitting a target just behind Araxion. He thought for a moment that Kerelion had tried to hit him and missed, before he heard a gasp from behind him, then coughing. He was killing Iraeku first.

"Look at what's become of your precious nether drake," Kerelion said.

"It's not about her," Araxion growled. "This is wrong. _Everything_ is wrong. This isn't a cause worth fighting for. What exactly are we hoping to gain?"

"You're a fool, just like all the others," Kerelion growled. "Araxion, you had _everything_. You could've been an Aspect. You've thrown all of that away in a moment. And for what? I want to make sure you know what you could've been. Think of it. Araxion, Aspect of Twilight, the-"

"The price was too high," Araxion hissed.

"The price you're going to face for this is higher than you could ever imagine," Kerelion said. "You have nothing left. Do you hear me? _Nothing._ "

The black wyrm lifted his hand, and a dark gray light emanated from it, flooding around Araxion. Suddenly the world seemed dark, and everything was spinning. It took a great deal of effort just to see where Kerelion was. Araxion dragged his body a few steps forward, feeling weaker than he ever had, courtesy of the black wyrm's foul magic. He gathered all his strength, and leapt on the black wyrm, tackling him out into the hallway.

"Araxion..." Kerelion struggled to say. He was trying to shapeshift into his dragon form, but he wasn't powerful enough to do so with Araxion on top of him.

"I'm taking you with me," Araxion hissed.

In a movement that was a lot more difficult than it should've been, Araxion swiped his talons across Kerelion's neck. The black wyrm's human head separated from his body, and Araxion looked at it numbly, unsure of what exactly he had just done.

Control of his body was slipping, and Araxion wasn't sure how much time he had left. He dragged himself off of the black wyrm's body and further down the hall, desperately searching for a source of light. Darkness clouded his vision, and reluctantly, he surrendered to it. The last thing he heard was the sound of his body as it hit the ground, and then he slipped into a deep blackness.


	37. Convergence

**A/N: This chapter was released at the same time as four other chapters. The first of those is chapter 34, "Remember the Day". If you haven't already, you'll want to start there.**

 **Also, this chapter takes place not long after chapters 34 and 35, but due to time zones and the like, it's written so that it's night in Northrend while it's still daytime in the Eastern Kingdoms.**

* * *

Hundreds of blue dragons, almost every one of them left on Azeroth, were gathered around Coldarra. It was twilight now in Northrend, but during the daylight hours, they'd been scattered across the Nexus and Coldarra's various floating platforms, but now all attention was on a single floating platform. In a corner of Coldarra, far above the snow below, Arygos and Kalecgos faced each other stared at each other across a floating platform. Over a hundred adult dragons surrounded them, each on their own floating platform, while countless drakes watched from a further distance. Even a swarm of whelps was watching from a distance.

The process of picking a new Aspect was something that had been debated endlessly. Eventually, it was decided that the best chance of empowering a new Aspect was through the flight bond, the magic that tied every member of a dragonflight together. It had been through the flight bond that the entire Black Dragonflight had corrupted, and now the Blue Dragonflight hoped that that same connection would allow them to escape a position that no other flight had ever been in before.

The new Aspect, it had been decided, would inherit almost everything of Malygos's. They would also take the title of Spellweaver, and be given ownership of the Eye of Eternity. The new Aspect would take possession of many powerful artifacts that had once belonged to Malygos, such as the legendary Heart of Magic he had created long ago, which had been kept by Korialstrasz since the Nexus War. If Kalecgos became Aspect, some of Malygos's more personal possessions, such as art of his consorts, would be passed on to Arygos instead.

That had all been decided in advance, and would be arranged after the Aspect had been properly chosen. The moons were just about touching now, and at long last, the moment of truth had come. All the assembled wyrms looked to the sky anxiously. A gathering of wyrms like this was called a dragon council, an extraordinarily rare event that had not occurredin many thousands of years. While normally privacy was paramount at a draconic conclave of any sort, all members of the Blue Dragonflight were permitted due to the importance of this moment. Kalecgos had also arranged that a scrying orb be bound to Wymrest Temple, so the other Aspects would know what was happening as it happened.

Kalecgos was the first to speak. He stepped into the center of the platform, bowed his head in respect to his flight, and then looked up to behold the moons. Nothing at this point would sway the opinions of the dragons who had gathered to vote, but it felt right to make a short statement regardless.

"My fellow blue dragons," he began. "It's been an honor to speak with you all throughout this process, difficult as it may have been. Regardless of what happens here, I swear that I will continue to serve my flight with pride and dignity. What happens here today will echo throughout history, but no matter what comes to pass, I know we can face the future together, as a united dragonflight. Thank you."

There was no flapping of wings, no anxious murmur, only a solemn silence. Most eyes were still on the moons, which were already touching. It would not be long before the moment of the Embrace came.

Arygos spoke next, and for a much shorter time than Kalecgos had. "We all know what must be done," he said.

Both Kalecgos and Arygos returned to their spots on opposite sides of the floating platform, and their eyes, too, turned to the moons. Finally, they were on top of each other, the White Lady and the Child, and an ethereal, silver light seemed to wash over everything. There was a blue glow that ringed the moons, a sign that the dragons' ritual was ready. Silently, every adult dragon made their vote, each choice private and only in the heart of the one who had made it.

Then the blue glow seemed to become more intense, shifting to a brilliant white. One of the wyrms on the platform began to glow, so brightly that his identity was difficult to discern at first. The eyes of every dragon turned to him, and it was not long before his identity became apparent. Kalecgos was growing rapidly, close to the size Malygos had once been. In a few moments, he towered visibly above Arygos next to him. The other wyrm could do nothing but stare at his victorious opponent, his expression unreadable. Shock? Horror? It was impossible to say.

"I am honored," Kalecgos was the first to speak. The white glow aded from his body, but his eyes now glowed a brilliant purple color, one of the trademarks of an Aspect. "I swear by all those who have come before, the Blue Dragonflight will rise again as protectors of Azeroth, champions of magic."

Then, eyes turned to Arygos, anxiously awaiting his reaction to what had occurred. The blue wyrm seemed almost nervous. He gave a quick bow of his head in Kalecgos's direction. "Congratulations," he said simply.

A blue drake flew up beside Arygos, one that everyone could recognize as Mensagosa. She and Arygos exchanged words, then the wyrm looked back towards the new Aspect. "I will leave you to celebrate," he said, before leaving the platform and flying off with Mensagosa at his side.

Nobody thought much of Arygos's departure- it wasn't exactly required, but made sense considering how harsh some of the arguments against Kalecgos had become. A few of Kalecgos's closest friends, like Tarecgosa, flew onto the platform to congratulate him, but the post-coronation festivities had not truly begun yet.

One of the eldest wyrms cleared his throat to catch everyone's attention. His voice echoed across the gathering, which was still almost silent. "Hail Kalecgos, Spellweaver of the Blue Dragonflight, successor to Malygos, second Aspect of Magic!"

The festivities, it seemed, would last long into the night.


	38. The Twilight Onslaught

The moment of the Embrace had come and gone, yet the fighting continued.

The Twilight Dragonflight was winning, that much was undeniable. The Red Dragonflight just couldn't hope to stand up to such a large group of twilight drakes, and individual wyrms were no match for adult twilight dragons like Sariona. However, despite the steep odds they were up against, more and more red dragons kept appearing on the battlefield. Some were from red dragon outposts in the Wetlands, but they had to be coming from somewhere else as well.

 _ **Let them come. They bring themselves to the slaughter.**_

A few twilight drakes were working to secure red eggs along the side of the Redoubt nearest Sariona. An adult red dragon, perhaps the mother, was screeching and rushing towards them. Sariona stepped in to defend the twilight drakes, tackling the mother dragon and putting her down quickly, buying more time to secure the eggs. Eliminating red dragon forces and creating a diversion for the forces in Northrend was the main goal, but the Twilight Dragonflight was always looking for ways to bolster its numbers.

Sariona couldn't help but be surprised that the red dragons weren't retreating yet. She wasn't upset about that, not in the slightest, but it seemed strange. The Red Dragonflight had so much more to lose than the Twilight Dragonflight.

 _ **The reason for their foolishness does not matter. There are things here that are precious to the Red Dragonflight. It is your duty to destroy them.**_

There was a location that the Masters gave her with those words. Sariona made her way to a cave in the walls of the Vermillion Redoubt. A small red drake tried to strike out at her, but Sariona was able to knock it away with a sweep of her tail. She had to cut through a number of red drakes to get to the central chamber, but there, in a small bed against the wall, was a single egg. Sariona approached it, and lowered her head to take a closer look. It wasn't a red egg, she could tell that much. It almost looked like a black dragon egg, but it felt _different_ somehow in a way she couldn't place.

 _ **Destroy it.**_

That was all the urging she needed. Sariona lifted a foot and crushed the egg under her talons. The fluid leaked all over the nest, a sure sign that the whelp inside could not have survived. Satisfied, she turned around and left the cave, emerging back out into the light of day. The wings of twilight drakes almost blotted out the entire sky, but still, the Red Dragonflight continued to struggle against them. For what?

That was not her place to question. Perhaps they didn't realize the Twilight Dragonflight was so powerful. Perhaps they thought that this was something worth dying for. Sariona was glad that she was on the right side.

 _ **They are all fools. They will realize, eventually, what this futile struggle has cost them. But by then it will be too late.**_

That much was true. Sariona rose to rejoin the battle. It would continue for a few hours yet.


	39. Shadow-Keeper

Nethandris's dragons were able to enter the facility without difficulty. Oddly, other than the cultist who had originally opened the door, nobody else seemed to be there. Virigosa almost wished that Sathius had kept him alive, so they could figure out what was going on. If this facility was really as important as Nethandris had said, there was no way it was staffed by a single cultist. The halls should've been filled with cultists going about their work, there should've been twilight drakes ready to meet them in combat immediately... But there was nothing. It was quiet, too quiet, Virigosa thought.

"We have no idea what horrors might await us in these halls," Nethandris was giving a speech in the large room they had found. "We're going to sweep this facility, looking for any eggs, documents, any sign of what the Twilight's Hammer was hiding here. Nobody is to go alone, groups of three or four are preferable. Report back to me here with any questions or any finds of particular important. We're going to make sure no stone in this facility is left unturned. We _will_ find what we're looking for."

"So much for this being such an important mission," Virigosa muttered.

Zoralus slid up beside her, catching Virigosa's attention with a tail tap. "We're not supposed to go alone," he said. "Want to go together?"

The way he said that reminded Virigosa of training exercises from before the Nexus War. She stopped for a moment, then nodded. "Sathius probably wants to stay here with Nethandris anyways," she said.

"Of course they're staying here," Zoralus remarked. "The lady never likes to do her own dirty work. Anyways, I think we should see about going deep into the facility. We're two of Nethandris's most capable drakes, so I'm sure she'd be fine with us taking the more dangerous areas."

"It doesn't matter to me," Virigosa said.

Zoralus told Nethandris their plans, and then the two drakes set out into the halls. The passages seemed to stretch out deep into the ground, and normally Virigosa would've worried that they might've become lost. However, the facility was full of Nethandris's dragons, and it was easy to hear the sound of their wings and talons as they moved. It wouldn't be all that difficult to find their way back with so many allies in the area.

There weren't many doors, just featureless walls that almost seemed to stretch on forever. Once Zoralus felt that they were deep enough in the facility, he held open the first door that came into sight. Virigosa stepped in first, cautiously surveying the room. It looked like some sort of laboratory, with empty cages lining one wall. A wooden table beside the door held several papers, which Virigosa moved to get a better look at. In the center of the room, a deceased green whelp was laid out on a metal table, its wings held out by clips. Zoralus was the first to spot it, and he went to investigate.

"This is sick," he said.

"They were researching whelps for some sort of project," Virigosa said, pinning a piece of parchment to the table as she read it. "Some kind of... 'chromatic' dragon."

"I hear Nefarian did things like this," Zoralus said, shaking his head.

"It makes sense that they'd try to recreate his work," Virigosa said. "Whoever did this will pay."

Zoralus checked the cages along the wall. There were bloodstains in some of them, but nothing else was left alive. The two drakes walked to the door on the opposite side of the room. It lead into another hallway, this one slightly more dim than the others Virigosa had seen. This time, Zoralus was the first to step into the hallway, Virigosa right on his tail. The mixed-flight drake turned his head to the left, and froze in his tracks. Virigosa leaned forward to see what he was looking at.

"What the hell?" It was Zoralus who spoke first.

He went over to investigate, and Virigosa followed. Laying on the ground, in a pool of blood, was a decapitated human body. Just a short distance away, a twilight drake, the first they'd seen in the facility, was laying on his side. Zoralus flipped over the body, trying to look for any clues of who it could've been. Virigosa took a few steps towards the twilight drake, unsure if it was alive or dead. Either way, it hardly looked to be in a condition to attack her.

"This is a black dragon, not a human," Zoralus explained. "I know him. Kerelion. I ran into him on-"

"Is that..." Virigosa murmured, taking a few steps towards the drake. "Araxion?"

She was able to recognize the twilight dragon almost immediately. He was unconscious, Virigosa could tell that much, but his breathing was very fast. She tried to pull him on to his feet so he wasn't laying on one of his wings, but his body was completely limp. Zoralus watched for a moment, then walked over to stand beside Virigosa.

"What do you think you're doing?" he said.

"This is Araxion, I... I recognize him," Virigosa hesitated to say. "During the battles on Mount Hyjal, I ended up speaking to him. He's not like the others, I don't think."

"A twilight dragon?" Zoralus questioned. "You... really?"

"He didn't try to kill me right away like all the others," Virigosa said. "And he... There was a traitor in our ranks, a dragon named Eyrigos. He told me about him, so I killed him."

"And you just trusted him?" Zoralus said.

"He admitted it, Eyrigos did, when I confronted him," Virigosa said.

Zoralus had an unreadable expression. He shook his head and looked away. "So what do you want to do?"

"Get Nethandris," Virigosa said. "I think we can use him."

* * *

"What's going on here?" Nethandris said.

She had arrived in her elf form atop Zoralus's back. Virigosa greeted her with a nod, then gestured to Araxion. Since Zoralus had left, Virigosa had managed to get the twilight drake into a better position where he couldn't damage his wings. Nethandris slipped off the drake's back and walked next to Virigosa, kneeling down to get a better look at the twilight drake.

"I think we should take him with us," Virigosa said. "Remember how I told the story about Eyrigos, the traitor? This is the dragon who told me about that. His name is Araxion."

"Virigosa, this is a twilight dragon," Nethandris said with some amount of amusement, running her fingers along Araxion's scales. "You're the last person I'd expect advocating for us to spare his life."

"We won't, right?" Zoralus said. There was no answer. "Right?"

"What's wrong with him?" Nethandris asked.

"It's a spell," Virigosa explained. "An enchanted sleep. Sometimes my flight will use similar methods, but with arcane magic instead of shadow. It's a lot messier than what green dragons are capable of, that's why he's breathing so strangely. Do you see the body back there? That's a black dragon. I think it was the black dragon that cast the spell on him. It's nothing I wouldn't be able to undo."

"It looks like they were fighting," Nethandris said, standing up to get a better look at the body further down the hallway.

"Kerelion is dead, and Araxion has blood on him without any visible wounds," Virigosa pointed out. "It makes sense."

"He's a twilight dragon, Nethandris," Zoralus said again. "They're corrupted. You can't trust them."

"Nethandris, don't you say that you care about all dragons?" Virigosa said. "That you aren't like Alexstrasza, that you won't kill anyone for how they were born?"

"Twilight dragons are not like us," Zoralus said.

"He is," Virigosa said. "I spoke to-"

"Stop it, both of you!" Nethandris snapped. "I don't know what's gotten into you two."

"I'm not the one who-" Zoralus tried to say.

"Enough," Nethandris said, moving to kneel next to Araxion again. "If what Virigosa says is true, then this drake might be valuable, maybe even an ally. If not, we kill him. Simple. We'll take him back to camp, restrain him, and see what we can do. I do have a few favors I can call in if we need to."

"Fine," Zoralus said. "Whatever you say, my lady. Let's drag him back then."


	40. End of an Era

**A/N: Three chapters this time! You'll want to start reading at "The Twilight Onslaught" if you haven't already."**

* * *

Away from the eyes of his kin, a once-great wyrm kneeled before Deathwing the Destroyer.

"My lord," Arygos said. "Kalecgos has become Aspect of the Blue Dragonflight."

Deathwing's fiery eyes were fixed on the son of Malygos. He didn't speak, didn't move, for what seemed like forever. Finally, he drove his talons into the ground next to Arygos, dangerously close to the blue wyrm.

"You have failed, Arygos," Deathwing's voice echoed through the twilight camp. Countless twilight drakes lined the walls, watching, waiting like vultures.

"I am sorry, my lord," Arygos pressed his head to the ground.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" Deathwing said.

"Nothing, my lord," Arygos said. He looked as though he was trying to push himself further into the ground.

"Then there is one punishment for failure," Deathwing said.

The Aspect's talons tore themselves from the ground and came down on top of Arygos, twisting as they did so. Arygos was no small creature by any standard, but he couldn't even put up a semblance of a struggle against the Destroyer. After mere moments, Deathwing lifted his foot, revealing Arygos's body. The blue wyrm's body had been twisted, and was covered in burns and gashes. He was clearly not long for the world. With Arygos dealt with, Deathwing turned his attention to the drake Mensagosa, who was standing in a corner, flanked by two twilight drakes, a horrified expression on her face.

"Return to Coldarra, whelp," Deathwing said. "We will follow. Guide the way for the flight that shall be the end of yours."

* * *

For the first time in a long time, the atmosphere in Coldarra was joyous. The new Spellweaver was going around speaking to the dragons of his flight, hoping to personally meet as many as he could. Dragons of all ages, dragonspawn, and almost all the flight's dragonsworn were feasting and playing games. Despite the losses the flight had taken over the past few years and the challenges that still faced them in the present, there was finally hope. The Blue Dragonflight had a new, sane Aspect. After ten thousand years without hope, it seemed like the Blue Dragonflight really could rise again.

A few blue drakes were playing a game far above Coldarra, chasing a ball of light. At one point, Kalecgos joined them, much to the delight of the flight. Within Coldarra's caves, a few mothers had returned to their eggs to tell them of the events that had occurred. Near the base of the Nexus, a few drakonids were playing with a swarm of azure whelplings. For all their associations with ice and snow, for all they had suffered since the flight first arrived on the brink of extinction, the Blue Dragonflight at its heart was lively. To the dragons in Coldarra, it seemed like the first time in forever that they'd been able to show it.

Amidst all the joy, Mensagosa's return went unnoticed.

So did those who followed her, until it was too late. No one had noticed Deathwing's approach until his fiery scales were plainly visible above the ridges of Coldarra. Nobody had noticed the host of twilight dragons until their wings, thousands upon thousands of them, blotted out the moons and stars. By then, it was far too late for anyone to do anything about it.

Several blue dragons, especially the drakes that had been playing just moments ago, began to panic. The twilight dragons spread and began to swarm. Deathwing, however, had eyes for only one.

"Deathwing!" Kalecgos called. "You have made a mistake coming here this day!"

"Fool," Deathwing replied. "I have already won."

The former Aspect of Earth dove at Kalecgos, who managed to dodge out of the way. At the same time, although it seemed impossible, the twilight dragons just kept coming. There were so many of them, much too many, far more than the dragonflights had thought possible. The majority were drakes, but among the twilight horde were adults, some the size of wyrms. Such dragons had not been seen among twilight forces until today.

Kalecgos unleashed a blast of arcane energy, hitting Deathwing squarely in the shoulder. Kalecgos was a new Aspect, however, and had not yet had time to gain his full power. Deathwing was hardly hindered by Kalecgos's magic, and lunged for the Spellweaver once again. His talons cut deep into the Blue Aspect's flanks, and he roared in pain.

"You are no true Aspect," Deathwing said.

While the two Aspects battled, the Blue Dragonflight was faring poorly in the battle around them. Countless dragons had fallen already, far more blue than twilight. In some parts of Coldarra, the snow was turning red. At one point, during the fighting, Deathwing and Kalecgos, talons locked, slammed into a part of the Nexus. The spells that kept the Nexus floating began to fail, causing much of the structure and several platforms to come crashing down. Around them, a few twilight dragons were strafing the ground with shadowfire, taking out dragonspawn and other members of the Blue Dragonflight's ground forces.

Kalecgos fought valiantly. Still, it was obvious that he could not match Deathwing, the most powerful of the Aspects, especially since he had not been empowered through traditional means. Resistance from the Blue Dragonflight was located only in small, quickly dwindling pockets, and more and more twilight dragons seemed to be joining Deathwing in the fight against Kalecgos. The Blue Aspect took a moment to look over the battlefield. Deathwing's onslaught was halted- he would allow Kalecgos to take one last look.

"Look what has become of your dragonflight," Deathwing taunted.

"You have left me nothing to fight for," Kalecgos said. "But I will not dishonor the fallen by surrendering."

Kalecgos and Deathwing's battle did not last much longer. Deathwing, at last, managed to tear Kalecgos apart. The second Aspect of Magic coughed as his life ebbed away, his blood spilling out onto ground that was once sacred to the Blue Dragonflight. The Twilight Dragonflight went to work eliminating what was left of the blues, and then went to work retrieving their eggs. The Blue Dragonflight had never stood a chance, being so heavily outnumbered, but they had fought to the bitter end. Very few blue dragons had managed to survive their fall, and even more would bleed out in the hours to come. The twilight dragons had been very thorough in their work.

Any who were to behold Coldarra in the aftermath would've described it as the site of a massacre rather than a battle. On the land they had considered home, the Blue Dragonflight lay dying.


	41. Wyrmrest in the Aftermath

Alexstrasza had gone to get something to drink. She, Ysera, Anachronos, and a few of their advisors had been watching the happenings in Coldarra for the past few hours. Kalecgos had been able to arrange for a scrying orb in Coldarra to be linked to Wyrmrest Temple so the other Aspects were able to know what was happening without need of a messenger. They had watched intently, celebrated as Kalecgos was crowned Aspect, and then discussed other business while monitoring the festivities. It had been quiet for the last hour or so, and so Alexstrasza had taken a break.

As she was pouring her glass of water, one of her advisors came to her in their human form, looking frantic. "My queen, there is-" he stopped, unsure of what to say. "You are needed in the conference room."

Alexstrasza was alarmed by the expression on the other dragon's face. She nodded in wordless acknowledgement and hurried back to Ysera and Anachronos. The Aspect of Life opened the door to find both of the other dragons leaning over a glass table that the scrying orb was linked to, their concerned expressions worrisome. Alexstrasza's advisors talked among themselves in hushed whispers towards the back of the room, anxiously watching Ysera and Anachronos.

Ysera looked up as Alexstrasza approached. "Sister," she said, her voice cracking.

Alexstrasza took a spot against the side of the table nearest the door. "What's happened?" she asked.

"Deathwing," Ysera said, gesturing to the table.

Alexstrasza leaned down to look at what was happening in Coldarra, and had to resist the urge to recoil. She never imagined that there could've been so many twilight dragons. The sky was filled with them, and they were swarming over wyrms, drakes, everyone and everything. Deathwing went to engage Kalecgos, and Alexstrasza was powerless to stop it. She stood up, looked over the advisors she had in the room, and gestured to one of them.

"Kavlistrasz," she said. "Send our army to Coldarra through the dreamgates. We can't lose the Blue Dragonflight."

Kavlistrasz had a strange look on his face, and he shook his head slowly. "My queen," he said carefully. "We can't. Our forces have been pinned down in the Twilight Highlands for hours now. Almost all of our forces are dedicated to recovering our eggs and artifacts before we order a retreat."

Alexstrasza felt herself freeze in place. "Why wasn't I told about this?"

"We... The Embrace in Coldarra was more important, my queen."

Alexstrasza looked back down at the table, just in time to see Deathwing make a move to strike Kalecgos. Dragons were falling from the sky at an alarming rate, more quickly than she had ever seen before. It wasn't all that surprising that Deathwing had decided to attack the Blue Dragonflight and its new Aspect. What made this situation dire was how many twilight dragons there were. The Blue Dragonflight was heavily outnumbered, perhaps hopelessly so. Alexstrasza didn't want to admit it.

"Ysera," Alexstrasza said, tapping her sister's arm. "We can go."

"Absolutely not, my queen," another of the advisors in the back said. "We can't risk it. Azeroth would be lost without you. Don't you remember what almost happened when you went to Hyjal?"

"It wouldn't have killed me. I'm an Aspect, not made of glass," Alexstrasza said. "There's a dragonflight at stake. I can't just sit here idly by while Deathwing slaughters the Blue Dragonflight."

"I'm so sorry," Anachronos said, from across the table. "I didn't see this. If I had known..."

"It's alright," Ysera said. "You wouldn't have been able to."

"I need options," Alexstrasza said, directing the question to her advisors.

"If I may," Ysera said, raising a hand and stepping into the exchange between Alexstrasza and her advisors. "The Green Dragonflight is not involved in such heavy fighting as the Red Dragonflight is. I can call my generals and send a force to Coldarra to support the Blue Dragonflight, but it may take some time."

"How long?" one of the advisors asked.

Ysera shook her head slowly. "I don't know," she admitted. "An hour would be a fair estimate, maybe more and maybe less."

"It's not like we have any other options," Anachronos said.

Alexstrasza agreed. "Anything you can do," she said.

Ysera called one of her highest-ranking generals at Wyrmrest Temple into the room, and showed her the situation. Alexstrasza and Anachronos, in the meantime, kept watching the situation in Coldarra through the glass table. When Ysera finished giving instructions to her general, she rejoined Alexstrasza and Anachronos at the table. It wasn't long before the three great wyrms watched Deathwing finish Kalecgos off, killing the second Aspect of the Blue Dragonflight just a few hours after he was chosen.

"No..." Alexstrasza said in a whisper.

"We're too late," Ysera said, shaking her head.

"There's going to be survivors," Alexstrasza said. "There has to be."

The three dragons watched the twilight dragons disappear almost as quickly as they came. Alexstrasza moved away from the table first, sitting down on a chair and sipping from a glass of water. Ysera came to join her, while Anachronos remained standing.

"We have to tell everyone else," Anachronos said. "The other dragons in the Temple."

"Let's wait until Ysera's dragons get back," Alexstrasza said. "We want what we say to be accurate."


	42. So It Begins

When they brought Araxion back to camp, Nethandris had his wings and legs chained to a cave wall. Even though they thought he could be an ally, he was still a twilight dragon, and they didn't want to take any chances. After Virigosa undid Kerelion's spell, Sathius used his magic to put Araxion back to sleep. The black dragon's magic had likely taken a toll on the drake, and Sathius's methods were far safer.

Virigosa watched with Nethandris as Jerastrasza secured the chains. Once it was done, Nethandris, in her elven form, took a few steps forward to look over the twilight drake. "He is a fine specimen," she remarked. "You said you spoke to him?"

"Yes," Virigosa said. "When I was on Mount Hyjal, we ran into each other during a battle. We were both a bit dazed- we were knocked into a cave- and ended up speaking. I was very surprised. He was friendlier than I expected of a twilight dragon."

"If he really did kill Kerelion, then you might just be right about that," Nethandris said. "But I have to say, I didn't expect you, of all people, to advocate for a twilight dragon."

"I thought it was worth trying, at least," Virigosa said.

"I agree," Nethandris said. "I have a friend I'm going to bring in. His name is Ebyssian. He's a black dragon free of the Old Gods' influence, and I think he might be able to help us out."

"An uncorrupted black dragon?" Virigosa gave Nethandris a skeptical look.

"You're the one who wanted us to take a twilight drake, a complete unknown," Nethandris pointed out. "But yes. He is. Something about a Titanic artifact."

"I'm surprised the Wyrmrest Accord hasn't tried to bring him in," Virigosa said.

"He keeps a low profile," Nethandris said with a shrug. "That's how he knows me. He needed information, and didn't want the Accord's attention on him. You know, about the changes to one's body during the drake stage, the-"

"Spare me the details. I look forward to meeting him, if he can be trusted," Virigosa cut in. "I'm just disappointed I missed the Embrace for _this_. Araxion is the only thing we gained today, and we still don't know about him. We didn't even find any eggs."

Nethandris shifted a bit at mention of the Embrace. "Araxion's just the only thing you saw," she pointed out. "We were able to recover some very valuable documents about the chromatic dragon program, among other things. And with less effort than I ever could've imagined. There were only seventeen cultists in the entire facility, and Araxion was the only live drake. He didn't put up any resistance."

"See? You didn't need me," Virigosa said. "I'm not angry over it anymore, just disappointed. You were right, I'm doing more out here than I would be in Coldarra. Have your contacts reported the results back to you yet?"

"Right," Nethandris said. The wyrm stepped a bit out of the way and shifted into her draconic form. "Come with me, Virigosa."

That was strange. Virigosa flapped her wings and flew after Nethandris. She landed beside the lake in the center of their camp, where Sathius in his dragon form was waiting on a rock. He and Nethandris exchanged a few words in whispers, then they both turned to look at Virigosa. Immediately, she did not like the look on their faces. They were smiling, they both looked calm, but there was something _off_ about it. It seemed forced. _Perhaps they don't like the dragon who won._ No, it was never _that_ simple.

"So who's the Aspect?" Virigosa asked.

"Kalecgos was chosen as the new Aspect of Magic," Nethandris said, in a matter-of-fact way. No inflection. No emotion. Just words.

That was slightly disappointing, but it wasn't _that_ surprising. "All right," Virigosa said. "Go on." There had to be more. There was something Nethandris was holding back, it was easy to see just from the way they were acting.

"But then he died," Sathius added. His voice sounded cheerful, like he wasn't quite sure how to say it.

"He what?"

"He's dead," Nethandris repeated.

"Aspects don't just _die_ ," Virigosa said.

There was a long pause, and nobody spoke. The three dragons looked at it each other, each seemingly unsure of themselves. "Deathwing killed him," Nethandris clarified, at last.

Virigosa tilted her head. She felt cold, suddenly, because although it hadn't been said, she could imagine the truth without Nethandris's help. "But then that means-"

"Everyone who was in Coldarra is dead," Nethandris said. "Or, almost everyone. Nobody knows yet."

"They..." Virigosa couldn't finish her thought. She stood there frozen, unable to move, to speak, unable to do anything but imagine what could've happened. There were several long moments before she found her voice again, shaky as it was. "Almost my entire flight was there."

"I'm sorry, Virigosa," Nethandris said softly, and for a moment Virigosa almost believed her.

It all came together in Virigosa's mind, the pieces all clicked together. "You knew," she said, suddenly, an accusation. "You _knew_. That's why you kept me here."

"I'm sorry," Nethandris said.

"No, you're not," Virigosa said. "You _knew_ , and you didn't do anything about it. You did _nothing_."

"I tried to save as many blue dragons as I could," Nethandris said. "And if that number is one, well, I did my best."

"Answer me honestly," Virigosa spread her wings and adjusted her balance, preparing to fight or to flee. "Are you working for Deathwing?"

"No, Virigosa, I'm not," Nethandris turned her head towards the lake, away from Virigosa, shifting her attention to the reflections in the water. "There was nothing I could do. Nothing but protect you and the eggs we found."

Virigosa took a step towards her. "I was supposed to be there. I was supposed to have died with them."

"I'm sorry," Nethandris repeated.

"You're not. You've never had a flight," Virigosa shifted her gaze to Sathius and growled. "And _he_ abandoned his. All of you did. You can't even begin to understand what I've lost."

Nethandris turned back towards Virigosa, hanging her head. She reached out to touch her tail to Sathius's.

"My flight was everything to me," Virigosa continued. "I would've gladly given my life for it countless times over. And now you've stolen that from me."

More silence.

"None of you have an answer for me," Virigosa said. "You never will. I never should've listened to you. Never."

Sathius sat up on his rock, his scales gleaming brilliantly in the light. It reminded Virigosa of dragon scales under the sun during a bright day in Coldarra. "Virigosa..." he said slowly.

Virigosa shifted into a defensive position, ready to strike if she had to. "Don't even try."

"Forgive me, Virigosa," Sathius said. "We can't risk you hurting someone else. Or yourself."

Virigosa saw the magic gathering around the wyrm. He didn't have to say what he was doing for her to know. She growled and flung herself onto the wyrm, trying something, anything, to stop him. She could've escaped him, if she tried to flee, but the thought hadn't occured to her. And she wasn't able to stop him. As the green dragon's spell finished, she felt her body becoming heavy, the world spinning around her like it had when Zoralus did the same thing. Virigosa tried desperately to fight it, swiping futily in front of her, heavy talons scraping harmlessly at emerald scales. She collapsed, falling into a deep sleep.

Sathius sighed and leaned down to listen to her breathing. "Poor girl," he said.

Nethandris nodded slowly. "We have a lot left to do."


	43. End of Part Two

A solemn silence had befallen the conference room. The two Aspects and Anachronos sat around the glass table, none of them daring to speak. Alexstrasza was distracting herself by fiddling with one of the claws on her hand. Ysera's eyes were fixed on a spot on the floor, although it looked like she was watching something beyond. Anachronos was a bit more antsy than either of the Aspects, jumping at the slightest sound in the hallway outside. None of them dared meet another's gaze.

Finally, the door creaked open. Gaelara, one of Ysera's generals, walked in. As she beheld the three dragons sitting around the table, her expression changed- somehow, the sadness in the room seemed to be infectious. She waited for a moment for all eyes to fall upon her before she began to speak.

"My dragons have returned from Coldarra," she announced. "We recovered very few survivors. The rest... Almost all of them all dead."

"How many?" Alexstrasza asked, turning to face the green dragon.

"You... You'd rather I not tell you," Gaelara said, her voice somewhat raspy. "I'm not sure you'd believe me even if I did."

"There was an entire dragonflight there," Alexstrasza shook her head in disbelief. "You can't tell me almost every one of them is dead."

"What about the eggs?" Anachronos asked. His voice was a bit more hopeful.

"They're all gone," Gaelara said. "The twilights dragons were..." She thought better of her words, leaving the Aspects to speculate as to what she was going to say.

"We need to tell them," Ysera said, lowering her head.

"How?" Alexstrasza asked.

"We have to tell them," Ysera repeated.

Alexstrasza sighed, burying her face in her hands for a moment. "I will tell them," she decided at last. "Right now. We need to recall as many dragons as we can back to Wyrmrest. I'm going to call the Conclave of Wyrms."

"That hasn't been done in a very long time," Anachronos said. "And it might make us an even better target."

"With nearly every wyrm alive at Wyrmrest Temple, the Twilight Dragonflight won't have a chance, and they know it," Alexstrasza said. "And it needs to be done. With one dragonflight... with one dragonflight... with... We need to do it. There's nothing I can do to help them without a Blue Aspect, and I don't think we're going to get one at this point."

"I'm sorry, sister," Ysera said. "I will go with you."

The two Aspects made their way through the hall into a central chamber of the temple, where there was a large platform, a balcony of sorts. Normally, the center of the temple was used for dragons to easily pass from one level to another, but an announcement from here would carry throughout the temple. Both Alexstrasza and Ysera shapeshifted into their draconic forms. Ysera stepped forward first, and began to speak.

"Members of the Wyrmrest Accord, dragon and mortal," Ysera said. "The Dragonqueen has an announcement for all to hear."

The Green Aspect stepped back, allowing her sister to stand in the center of the balcony. The Life-Binder hesitated for a moment, unsure of how to begin.

"I regret that this announcement must be delivered," Alexstrasza began. "Kalecgos was chosen in Coldarra as the Aspect of Magic. Shortly afterwards, Deathwing and the Twilight Dragonflight slaughtered Kalecgos and the Blue Dragonflight. The Conclave of Wyrms will be called to address this matter. Other details will be released by advisors to the Aspects as soon as possible." There was a pause as Alexstrasza took a deep, loud breath. "I'm sorry."

Alexstrasza turned away from the balcony and returned to her humanoid form, Ysera doing the same. Gaelara was waiting nearby to escort the two Aspects back to the conference room. The night was already long, and there was no sign that it would let up.


	44. Those Who Remain

Wyrmrest Temple was busier than Virigosa had ever seen it. Drakes were posted at every balcony, every possible entrance to the temple, and several patrols were flying across Dragonblight. At the base of the temple, many dragons were waiting to enter. Virigosa had never seen anything like that before. All dragons with peaceful intentions had the sacred right to enter the Temple- were the guards really refusing to let them in?

Nethandris was flying beside Virigosa. They had hardly spoken the whole flight, not after what had happened in the camp. As they approached, several dragons looked up, staring at Nethandris. In fact, it seemed that most of them didn't even notice the blue drake beside her. It made sense- Nethandris's scales were bright and had a very unusual color for a dragon. Virigosa was small compared to the wyrm, and although a blue drake might've been something to stare about in times like these, a dragon like Nethandris hadn't been at Wyrmrest Temple in many years.

The two dragonesses landed off to the side, a short distance away from one of the entrances. It didn't take long for a rather flustered red drake came up to them, one who looked like he was hardly out of the whelp stage. "It is a pleasure to w-welcome you two ladies to Wyrmrest Temple. H-Have you come for the Conclave of Wyrms?" A nod from Nethandris. "Wonderful. Can I have your names, and uh, flight, please?" The last part of the question was clearly directed at the golden-scaled wyrm.

"I am Virigosa of the Blue Dragonflight," the drake said icily, shuffling a little further away from Nethandris.

"I'm Nethandris," the wyrm said. "As for my flight, that's a bit... Complicated. Don't worry, I'm sure it won't take long for someone to come out and deal with it."

"I'm sorry, Nethandris mi'lady," the red dragon said. "But we need your flight for administrative purposes."

"Trust me," Nethandris said. "Just wait. You'll see."

Virigosa growled, and smacked the wyrm lightly with the top of her foot. "Quit being difficult and tell him."

Closer to the entrance, dragons were parting to let a horned humanoid figure through. It seemed everyone's attention was on her as she walked through the crowd, halting just a short distance from Nethandris, Virigosa, and the young red drake. The red drake immediately dropped into a deep bow. The figure's gaze seemed to be shifting back and forth between Nethandris and the blue drake beside here.

"My queen," the red drake choked.

"Oh, Alexstrasza, it's so nice to see that the years have treated you well," Nethandris said. "Have you had trouble finding consorts? I can't imagine why the almighty Dragonqueen, of all people, would need to wear something so revealing."

Alexstrasza deflected the comment with a sigh, while Virigosa glared at the golden-scaled wyrm. "Are you two together?" Alexstrasza asked.

"Unfortunately," Virigosa said.

"I'll be escorting them into the temple personally, then," the Life-Binder said.

"Y-yes, my queen, of course," the red drake said.

Alexstrasza gestured for the two to follow, and they did. Several dragons stared as the Life-Binder returned to the temple, Virigosa and Nethandris in tow. Without so much as a word to each other, they made their way to a conference room on the second floor of the temple. Alexstrasza and Nethandris took seats across from each other, while Virigosa stood in the back of the room, still in her drake form.

"I was hoping I'd be seeing you, Nethandris," Alexstrasza said. "And-"

"Forget the pleasantries, princess," Nethandris said. "I'm not here to play your little games."

Virigosa growled, brushing her tail against the floor. "Show some respect," she said.

"Virigosa," Alexstrasza said slowly. "I remember you. I'm glad you're alive. You never did come back to speak to me."

"We're just here for the conclave," Nethandris said. "Nothing more."

"You don't speak for me, Nethandris," Virigosa cut in, taking a few steps forward so she towered over Nethandris's elf form. "I'm tired of this little game. I want to know everything. What's the truth between you two?"

"I was hoping our conversation wouldn't start like this," Alexstrasza said, pressing a hand to her face. "So you've been working with Nethandris, Virigosa? I thought you were stationed in Hyjal."

"We rescued her from the Twilight Dragonflight," Nethandris explained.

"'Rescued' isn't the word I'd use," Virigosa said. "Kidnapped and manipulated using the Twilight Dragonflight as an excuse, sure. Maybe you'll be able to explain. Who is Nethandris, really?"

"I didn't lie to you, Virigosa," Nethandris protested. "Skipped over a few details, sure. Maybe."

"In short, fourteen thousand years ago, when Nethandris was born, breeding between dragons of different flights was forbidden," Alexstrasza sounded tired. "Dragons, being such powerful creatures, can have serious problems if anything about their magic is unusual during their early development. Most mixed-flight dragons, due to having the magic of multiple flights, would develop debilitating deformations as they grew into drakes and adults. We thought that this was the true of all of them, and that's why when Nethandris's clutch was discovered, we attempted to put them all down."

"You didn't succeed," Nethandris said. "I was just a whelp."

"Yes, you were, and we regretted our actions once we discovered that exceptions like you existed," Alexstrasza said. "Unfortunately, we didn't discover that Nethandris was one of the lucky ones until she was an adult and had murdered two of my advisors. I believe she said that she wanted to usurp the Aspects and create a 'new order', or some such nonsense?"

"I was young, and more importantly, I was stupid," Nethandris said. "You can't hold that against me after all that time."

"That's why we _pardoned_ you," Alexstrasza said. "Especially after what you did during the War of the Ancients."

"You can't be serious," Virigosa said, scraping her talons against the floor. " _That_ 's who I've been listening to?"

"You're alive," Nethandris said dryly.

"Enough. I didn't call you here to rehash this," Alexstrasza said. "I've told my dragons to keep an eye out for you. If the Twilight's Hammer manages to capture you or one of your-"

"The chromatic dragon project," Nethandris interrupted. "I'm fully aware of it. We haven't been sitting idly, princess."

"I just wanted to make sure," Alexstrasza said. "You two both came here for the conclave?"

"Nethandris did," Virigosa explained. "I know I won't be allowed in. The only reason we came together was because I wanted nothing more to do with her camp, and she wanted to attend the conclave. We were both going to the same place."

"I'll get you in," Alexstrasza promised. "There should be at least one blue dragon at the conclave, regardless of age."

"At least one?" Virigosa repeated. "You're not saying..."

"We recovered a handful of survivors, but they're too badly injured," Alexstrasza said. "The only blue dragons remaining on the front lines during the Embrace were those who felt some sort of bitterness towards their flight. Any others are mostly isolated from draconic society and likely unaware of what happened, and might not even care. Either way, we can't contact them. So, yes, you're the only blue dragon who's shown interest in attending."

Nethandris turned to look at Virigosa. "I didn't realize it was that bad," she said.

Alexstrasza stood up and made her way to the door. She returned a few minutes later with another red dragon in humanoid form. He had a few sheets of paper and a pen with him, which he set down on a table in the conference room. Alexstrasza sat down, and the red dragon attendant looked at Nethandris expectantly.

"Her name is Nethandris. Draw a line where you'd mark her flight," Alexstrasza instructed. The red dragon scribbled something down. "Put Virigosa on the list too."

"But my queen," he protested. "Virigosa, is she the drake here? The old laws state very clearly that only wyrms may be permitted in the Conclave of Wyrms."

"I know we wrote exceptions into those laws," Alexstrasza said.

"Yes, my queen, but she is not an Aspect, nor a representative thereof," The attendant was reading from some sort of list. "Nor a 'matriarch of her flight'-"

"She is now," Alexstrasza said with uncharacteristic frustration, rising from her seat once again. "I'm tired of playing politics. Now, would you please put Lady Virigosa on the list? Do it for me."

The attendant mumbled a quick apology and hurried out of the room. "I'm sorry," Virigosa said.

"No, Virigosa, _I'm_ sorry. For everything," Alexstrasza said. "This never should've happened."

Virigosa shapeshifted into her elven form as Alexstrasza walked towards the door. "I'll make sure you're both assigned separate quarters," she promised.

* * *

 **A/N: I'm currently writing the chapter where Araxion first hears an outsider's perspective of the Twilight's Hammer. I'm happy with how it's coming out, but I keep feeling like it's missing something important that should be mentioned, and I can't figure out what it is. If anyone has any ideas for things that Araxion might have questions about after living his entire life surrounded by cultists and Old God dragons, they would be appreciated.**

 **Thank you for reading! I'm very excited for where this story will go next. When I started writing this story (after conceptualizing it for a few years before) I had no plans except for a few major plot events. That's why some major events in part one (Alexstrasza in Hyjal) haven't really been mentioned much later on. The first version of part two was also mostly written without a plan (before all the files were lost to oblivion) and it was just bad. Thinking back to it, I have no idea how I ever thought that any of it was a good idea. It might also be interesting to note that Sariona was actually added to the story on a whim; when I needed to come up with a name for Araxion's sparring partner, I thought it might be cool if they ended up becoming close friends. The thing with the Blue Dragonflight was meant to happen much later, maybe 3/4ths of the way through the story.**

 **Needless to say, I have a much better idea of what I'm doing and where the story's going now. I'm very happy with how the published version of part two came out, and I'm excited to go from here.**


	45. The Conclave of Wyrms

The Conclave of Wyrms took place on one of the middle floors of Wyrmrest Temple. The room was ringed with seats, where most wyrms were to sit in their humanoid forms. There were a few spots where a handful of dragons, those who had never learned to shapeshift, were able to sit in the true forms. Five balconies, one for each flight, were located along the walls. Alexstrasza and Korialstrasz shared the Red Dragonflight's platform, while Ysera and Anachronos were flanked by their closest advisors on theirs. Virigosa, as the only blue dragon in attendance, had been permitted to sit alone in her drake form where Malygos and Sindragosa would've once been. The last platform, the one that once belonged to the Black Dragonflight, was completely empty.

By the time Virigosa was escorted to the platform, most of the wyrms had already taken their seats. She was flanked on one side by Ysera's platform, and by the Black Dragonflight's empty balcony on the other. A few stragglers were still making their way in, but there already had to be hundreds of dragons there. _Was this what it looked like at Coldarra?_ Virigosa wondered bitterly, catching sight of Nethandris in one of the front rows. For as long as she could remember, the Blue Dragonflight had been dwarfed by the others, but now she understood that their population was likely in the double-digits.

It seemed like it took forever for everyone to find a seat. Finally, when things had settled down, the drakonid guards shut the doors. There were no other exits or windows. A strange feeling fell over the crowd. The Conclave of Wyrms had only met once since the Black Dragonflight left the fold, and most of those in attendance today had been too young to go then. For most of these dragons, ancient as they might've been, a meeting like this was uncharted territory.

Alexstrasza walked to the front of her balcony, next to Ysera's, and curled her hands around the railing. There wasn't much murmuring to begin with, but the room fell completely silent as the Dragonqueen prepared to address the council. She took a deep breath.

"Brothers and sisters," Alexstrasza began. "It is with great sorrow that I've had to call this meeting. We mourn for our blue brothers and sisters, and at the same time, are forced to contend with greater challenges than we ever have. The Black Dragonflight, those we once considered among our own, and the Twilight Dragonflight, our own children twisted and turned against us, threaten to destroy this world we have long been sworn to defend."

Her voice suddenly became softer. "I regret that we have only four flights represented here today. It's an old wound, one I've been long been forced to accept. But it is a blessing that we do, indeed, have four flights here today," She gestured to the Blue Dragonflight's platform and Virigosa met her eyes. Was that why they had wanted her to sit in such a visible location? "A reminder that hope yet remains. I believe that the Black Dragonflight is not forever lost to us. It has come to-"

"My queen," a dragon clad in red robes stood up. Most of the assembled dragons seemed to be shocked that she would dare interrupt the Dragonqueen. "I... My humblest apologies for the interruption, my queen. If you speak of Rheastrasza's research, it is... It is gone. The single egg that resulted from her experiments was destroyed during the twilight attack on the Vermillion Redoubt. Nothing else of hers remained. I beg your forgiveness, Life-Binder, my queen."

"It is granted," Alexstrasza's voice, once it came, sounded empty, a stark contrast to the hope in it moments ago. "In that case... Lady Gaelara of the Green Dragonflight, if you could... give your summary of the events the night of the Embrace?"

"It would be my honor, Life-Binder," Gaelara said, stepping forward to the front of Ysera's platform. "After Deathwing began his attack on Coldarra, approximately one hundred green dragons under my command were ordered to the Nexus. We arrived shortly after Deathwing's forces departed, and our efforts were spent helping survivors. Most of the blue dragons were already dead by the time we arrived, and the majority of those remaining were already on the verge of death. We managed to recover more than a dozen survivors and return them to Wyrmrest Temple. The majority of them have very serious injuries, and I am told a number of them are in very poor condition. The assaults on Coldarra and the Vermillion Redoubt, which took place the same day, have forced us to re-evaluate our estimates of the Twilight Dragonflight's numbers. Previously, we believed that they were made up of only twilight drakes and whelps, and that the bulk of them were contained in the Twilight Highlands. Now, we're led to believe that there are twilight dragons stationed across every region of Azeroth, including adults and wyrms, and in much, much higher numbers than we initially predicted."

"Thank you, Lady Gaelara," Alexstrasza said. "The floor is now open to any questions, comments, suggestions, or anything of that nature. Today's session is meant to be informative and address questions, while more specific issues and how to address them will be dealt with in the days to come."

"If I may," One of the wyrms without a humanoid form took the opportunity to speak first. "How many blue dragons remain?"

"We can't come up with an exact number," said a red advisor. "We believe that it's somewhere between thirty and ninety. We have approximately twenty living blue drakes who've remained on the front lines, and then the injured here at the temple, as well as the representative here. We don't know how many blue dragons are living in isolation from draconic society, perhaps unaware of what has happened. They make up the rest of the blue dragon population, but we can't tell how many there are, exactly."

"Those numbers are mostly drakes, but include a handful of whelps and perhaps two to three adults, in the higher estimate," Ysera added. "We do know of blue eggs that aren't counted in that number."

"The eggs don't matter," Virigosa said. "The Blue Dragonflight was already struggling to maintain a diverse breeding pool before the Embrace. My flight is no longer viable."

The other dragons seemed surprised to hear Virigosa speak at all, even moreso that she was so resigned to her fate. She saw several eyes turn towards her from across the room. With pity, she suspected. Thankfully, nobody else seemed to want to address what Virigosa had brought up. She caught Korialstrasz staring at her even after the next dragon had begun to speak. He and Virigosa met eyes unexpectedly, and the Life-Binder's consort looked away, looking embarrassed that she had seen him. Virigosa had a feeling from his expression that he knew something he wasn't saying.

Some time passed. "How safe are we here at Wyrmrest Temple?" someone else asked.

"Even though the Twilight Dragonflight is larger than we initially believed, it's still smaller than the Green, Bronze, and Red Dragonflights individually," Korialstrasz explained. "A significant amount of the Red Dragonflight's forces are posted in Northrend, many of them right here at Wyrmrest Temple. Additionally, Ysera's dreamgates allow the quick movement of troops, especially green dragons, throughout Azeroth. We believe that at this point, the Twilight Dragonflight would not be able to take Wyrmrest Temple. It took all their strength to inflict the losses we saw in Coldarra and the Vermillion Redoubt."

"I'm also trying my hardest to secure more bronze dragon support," Anachronos said. "But my flight has run into a few unexpected difficulties. My sincere apologies."

Indeed, while some bronze dragons were present at the conclave, there were far fewer than one would've expected. The Red Dragonflight had the most representatives present at the meeting, followed by the Green Dragonflight. The Bronze Dragonflight was a very distant third. There had been much speculation as to why they had been so scarce as of late, but the Bronze Dragonflight had always been notoriously tight-lipped. The meeting went on.

"In the beginning of this meeting, something was said about a 'Rheastrasza', and an egg," The speaker was a female red wyrm who was clearly impatient that it had taken so long to ask her question. "I'd like details on what exactly was going on there."

There was a moment of hesitation. Korialstrasz looked at his queen, who began to speak.

"Rheastrasza was an agent who was tasked with redeeming the Black Dragonflight," Alexstrasza explained. "The details of her research are still mostly unclear, but we do know that she discovered an artifact that she used to purify a single black dragon egg. That egg was... destroyed, during the recent attack on the Vermillion Redoubt."

"And who authorized her actions?" the same wyrm said, somehow even more upset now that she had received an answer.

"Rheastrasza's actions were performed on my orders," Alexstrasza said. "I was the one who authorized them."

"With all due respect, Lady Aspect, such a project seems to me like it was madness to begin with," the red wyrm said. "We have no way to guarantee the loyalty of any dragon that has once turned against us like they did. The Black Dragonflight, if redeemed, would've had no Aspect and a bloody history that none of us could ever forget. Such a flight has no place in the Wyrmrest Accord."

The red wyrm was receiving looks of disapproval from across the room, both for speaking to the Dragonqueen with such disrespect and for what she was saying. Virigosa scraped her talons against the bottom of the platform, giving the wyrm her own icy glare. What she was saying could've just as easily been an argument against the Blue Dragonflight's inclusion in the Wyrmrest Accord.

"The Black Dragonflight were friends once," Alexstrasza said. "This is a time I remember very, very clearly. However, I certainly do appreciate your perspective, Teirvistrasza, as one who was born after that time."

The discussion shifted away from Rheastrasza's work. The meeting had already been going on for a few hours, and it wouldn't be too long before it was dismissed for the day. Some of the wyrms already looked bored, while others were scribbling down notes or whispering to their neighbors. Virigosa found the meeting quite dull until the topic found its way back to the Blue Dragonflight.

"What's to become of the Blue Dragonflight's leadership?" someone asked. "With no Aspect and most of the survivors being juveniles, someone has to lead them."

"The blue dragons are free to do as they wish," Alexstrasza said. "The Blue Dragonflight as a whole never officially joined the Wyrmrest Accord, and even if they did, we would not take over as the flight's leadership. They've been put in a very difficult situation, and it would be inappropriate to tell them what they should do in response to it."

"If I may speak," Virigosa added. "I have formally joined the Wyrmrest Accord of my own free will, as have the other blue dragons on the front lines. I will continue to listen to the Wyrmrest Accord's orders, despite the fact that their actions are part of what led us to this point. Some of my brethren, I expect, will do the same."

It was not exactly wise to blame the Wyrmrest Accord for what had happened, and a part of Virigosa immediately regretted that she had said it. She'd spent the time since the Nexus War insisting that Malygos had to die, that the Blue Dragonflight was wrong to start the war, and now she suddenly disagreed with all of it. There were a few murmurs in the crowd, as there were whenever Virigosa spoke. They didn't seem quite sure what to make of her.

"The Wyrmrest Accord is not to blame for this," Korialstrasz said. "We were put in a difficult position, and we did what we had to do. Malygos's death was the only option, and we deeply regret it."

"It doesn't matter how deeply you regret it," Virigosa shot back, sweeping her tail across the platform. "If he was still alive, none of this would've ever happened."

Normally, a drake arguing with an Aspect's consort would've been seen as foolish, a child who thought that they knew everything. Most of the wyrms in the crowd, however, seemed to pity Virigosa more than anything. It was only natural, after all, to look for someone to blame for what had happened.

"I'm very sorry about what happened to your flight," Korialstrasz said. "But the Red Dragonflight and the Wyrmrest Accord are not to blame for this."

"Of course you don't want to admit it," Virigosa accused. "If you were one of the last survivors among the ashes of your dragonflight, you'd be the first to say what I'm saying. But nobody wants to admit that it was them that caused the death of a dragonflight."

"There's no need to start turning on each other," Korialstrasz said. "This is what Deathwing-"

"Enough, the both of you," Alexstrasza said, holding up a hand. "I believe the conclave has accomplished enough for today. I'd like to thank all those gathered for attending. This meeting is adjourned. We will resume tomorrow."


	46. Ebyssian

It was late in the evening when Jerastrasza and Ebyssian arrived in Nethandris's camp, and the sun was just beginning to set. The red wyrm landed next to the lake, allowing Ebyssian, in his tauren form, to slip off of her back. Nethandris was away at Wyrmrest Temple, and so Sathius was the one to greet them. The green wyrm was standing just a short distance away in his elf form, and he looked very pleased.

"Ebyssian," Sathius greeted, and the two wyrms pulled each other into a brief, friendly hug. "It's been too long. How have you been?"

"The war has left the Broken Isles alone, for the most part," Ebyssian said. "Still, we get occasional reminders of what's going on elsewhere. My tribe has found a few dead twilight drakes, but I don't think there's much of interest for them in Highmountain. Further south... There's Senegos's brood. Jerastrasza told me about what happened to the Blue Dragonflight."

Sathius's face darkened. "Have you spoken with them?"

Ebyssian shook his head. "We rarely do," he said. "I'm not sure if they'd know what happened yet."

"Someone will have to tell them," Sathius said. "But enough of that. We have a twilight drake here that we'd like you to take a look at. I trust Jerastrasza filled you in on the details?"

"She did," Ebyssian said. "I haven't seen a live twilight drake up close before, and I'm very curious as to why you think this one can be an ally. I'm ready to take a look whenever you are."

After getting him something to eat, Sathius led the black wyrm to the cave where they had chained Araxion. The twilight drake was still sleeping, curled up in the middle of the floor. Each leg was chained to a different part of the wall, tight enough to hold him but not so much so that he wouldn't be able to move. His wings were given less mobility, both of them bound together and chained to the wall behind him. A light cloth had been placed over his scales to prevent chafing while he slept or when he woke up.

"Interesting way to treat a potential ally," Ebyssian joked. He looked interested, but didn't take a step closer just yet. "Is it your magic keeping him asleep?"

"It is," Sathius said. "As for the chains, well... We haven't actually _spoken_ to him yet. But one of our associates claimed to have met him, and she said that he was friendly. And, when we found him, it looked like he had killed a black dragon overseer. I'd say he has a better chance of being an ally than any random twilight drake."

"I'd say so as well," Ebyssian said. "I don't think this one is corrupted. Not significantly, at least."

"What?" Sathius asked. "You can tell that easily?"

Ebyssian took a few steps forward, reaching up to run his hand along Araxion's head like he was petting an animal. "I told you, I've ran into a few dead twilight dragons," he explained. "A few live ones from a distance. And they're definitely corrupted. The best way I can describe it is... It's a sort of cold feeling. Not a physical cold- it can make you shiver, but you know it's not real. A dead twilight dragon radiates it, and I imagine a live one definitely should, too."

"And this one doesn't?"

"There is a trace. But it's not coming from him. Well, technically, I suppose it is, but..." Ebyssian shook his head. "A corrupted item, animal, person, whatever, they become a source for the Old Gods to spread their corruption through. They begin to produce it themselves. This dragon's magic is actually _expelling_ the Old Gods' corruption in large amounts, rather than reproducing it like a corrupted dragon should. It's remarkable. My own magic does exactly the same thing, and allows me to detect corruption elsewhere, but that's because of the influence of the Titans. I can't imagine the Old Gods would've let him use an artifact that could do that if he's ever heard their whispers."

"So, what does this mean?" Sathius said. "Is it possible to inoculate dragons against the Old Gods? Did they somehow do that accidentally?"

"I don't think so," Ebyssian said, carefully lifting Araxion's head and lifting the drake's lip to get a look at his teeth. "I do have an idea of how he came to be like this, but as for what it means, there's a lot of possible answers. I think it's likely that the Twilight Dragonflight has become sloppy. They're so desperate to increase their numbers, they don't check for dragons like this. That being said, I don't think there _are_ many like this. He might even be the only one."

Ebyssian moved away from Araxion's head and traced the shape of one of his scales, clearly checking for something. He took one of the drake's wings and spread it as far as he could with the chains. Gently, he felt the shape of the wing membrane, then returned the wing back to a comfortable position as carefully as he could. He turned back to Sathius, looking excited.

"Jerastrasza tells me that twilight dragons are corrupted from the eggs of other flights," Ebyssian said.

"That's right," Sathius said. "Then the Twilight's Hammer does... something to them. The documents we've seized suggest that they usually use Faceless corruptors, cultists when they have to. We do know there are twilight broodmothers, with natural-born eggs, but our understanding is that those are very rare."

"His horns, the scale shape, his wing structure, they all tell me that this drake would've been a black dragon if he wasn't twilight," Ebyssian said. "That's very interesting. There is a precedent for black dragons who were naturally resistant to corruption and able to detect it. I've found records that detail them being used for various purposes- the Old Gods' minions and the remnants of their kingdoms are underground, so the Black Dragonflight needed to know where they were. Of course, then the flight fell under the sway of the Old Gods themselves, and then I imagine any dragons resistant to corruption were killed."

"Do you think there might be hope for the Black Dragonflight, then?" Sathius asked. "Free of corruption?"

"I don't," Ebyssian said, shaking his head. "You know how I feel about restoring the Black Dragonflight. I'm not fond of the idea. And in any case, I can't imagine we're dealing with a large number of dragons who are resistant to corruption. In the single-digits at most, maybe just this drake. Even if they don't hear the whispers, some will still serve out of their own free will. For fear of their lives, maybe."

"But you think this drake might be an ally?" Sathius said.

"He could be," Ebyssian said. "The fact that he doesn't hear the whispers means that we can reason with him, at least. I can't tell you anything beyond that. I can detect corruption, not read minds."

"Then you should be the one to talk to him, not me," Sathius said. "I can't imagine twilight dragons have ever seen green dragons as anything but an enemy. He has a better chance of trusting you."

"I'd be happy to help," Ebyssian said. "I'd like to rest for a while, and then I'm ready whenever you are."

"We'll wake him in the morning," Sathius said.


	47. The Azure Sanctum

Her room was dark. A single candle was burning on a table, a blue-white flame, flickering and dancing, a single light in the still blackness. The dragon raised her hand, and the flame twisted, rose, then settled again. It was magic, bending to her every whim, as it should. She lifted her hand again, and forced the flame into the shape of a dragon in flight. She took a moment to admire her work, then let it return to its original shape. Her magic. She clenched her fingers, and forced the flame to vanish, disappear into nothing. It obeyed, because it had no choice, and left her in darkness.

Virigosa slouched back in her chair, unsure of what had possessed her to do such a thing. She was exhausted, but she didn't want to sleep. She let light return to her room, not just a single candle, but everywhere. She stood up and shed her elf form in favor of her true one, and stood in the middle of the room. Maybe she'd get something to eat. Earlier, she'd-

"Virigosa, are you awake?"

The voice startled her, and as she turned towards the door, she knocked over the room's single chair with her tail. It took a moment for her to collect herself, and then moved towards the door. Why did he want to see _her_? "Korialstrasz?" she asked.

"Yes. Can I come in?"

"Of course," Virigosa said. The door slid open, and the consort to the Dragonqueen, in his elf form, stepped in. His eyes fell for a moment on the fallen chair, clearly making the connection between it and the sound of something falling before he'd walked in. "I'm sorry, I didn't expect anyone," Virigosa added hastily.

"I'm happy we can meet under more casual circumstances," Korialstrasz said. "How've you been?"

"I'm glad to be back at Wyrmrest Temple," Virigosa said. "The conclave is... different. I'm a fighter. There's a reason they leave the talking to the wyrms."

Korialstrasz chuckled. "Believe me, not all us like it much either," he said. "You did just fine."

"I appreciate it. We didn't speak on the best of terms," Virigosa said. "But that wasn't what you came to talk about, is it?" There was maybe a bit of hope there, maybe a bit of a threat.

"I wanted to take you to the Azure Sanctum," Korialstrasz said. "So you can see how many eggs are left, and to take a look at what the Blue Dragonflight has stored here. We've already been taking care of the eggs, but it would be wrong to just go through the records and artifacts."

"We probably took most of our secrets during the Nexus War," Virigosa said. "I'm sure you don't have to take me."

"It's a matter of principle," Korialstrasz said. "It would be wrong."

"Then let's go," Virigosa said. "I don't have any other plans tonight."

* * *

Even though it was night, Wyrmrest Temple was still busy. A few drakes, mostly members of the Red Dragonflight, were flying through the halls, while several adult dragons were standing in groups and talking to each other. To avoid attracting attention, Virigosa and Korialstrasz walked through the temple in their humanoid forms. Virigosa's room was on one of the upper floors, and it was a long walk down to the chamber where the sanctum entrances were located.

"I've never been to the Azure Sanctum before," Virigosa said. They were almost there now.

"Malygos designed it in the days before the fall of the dragonflights," Korialstrasz said.

The azure drakonids guarding the entrance parted to allow the two dragons through. It wasn't a gateway so much as a portal- every dragonflight's sanctum was a pocket dimension, much like the Eye of Eternity, and couldn't be accessed by ordinary means. For a moment, Virigosa's vision flashed white as the teleportation spell took hold, and then she found herself standing on a dark gray platform. The sanctum was covered in snow, and statues made of ice decorated the walls. Virigosa took a deep breath of the cold air, and stepped off to the side to shapeshift into her dragon form.

Korialstrasz did the same, his crimson scales a stark contrast to the white and blue of the Azure Sanctum. Virigosa shook out her wings and took flight, circling up to get a better idea her surroundings. Korialstrasz looked to make sure she was there, then gestured for her to follow with a sweep of his tail.

"We've put the eggs in shelters off to the side," Korialstrasz explained, leading Virigosa over to one side of the sanctum. "Ensuring the safety of the eggs was one of our first priorities once we saw what was happening. We counted twenty-three."

"Twenty three eggs?" Virigosa echoed. "That's hardly a single clutch."

"One clutch, yes," Korialstrasz said. "A mother left her eggs here before she went to Coldarra. Your... ally, I suppose, Nethandris, had a few of her agents bring seven more. I don't know where she got them."

They'd arrived at the part of the sanctum where the eggs had been moved. Virigosa leaned down to take a better look, but didn't get close enough to touch them. "We found the seven blue eggs at a twilight camp," she said. "Thirty here at Wyrmrest Temple, then. Just thirty."

"Just thirty," Korialstrasz confirmed. "I'm sorry."

"So this is it, then," Virigosa turned away from the eggs, holding out her wings. "We always knew it was a possibility, but I never thought I'd live to see it. We're the last of our kind."

"You don't have to lose hope," Korialstrasz said. "We don't know how many blue dragons are out there. There are ways-"

"I'm only a few years old, Korialstrasz," Virigosa interrupted. "I fight. I take orders. I listen. War is almost all I've ever known. I was- I am- another warm body to throw at the Blue Dragonflight's cause. That's how it's supposed to be. That's how it was always supposed to be."

"Nobody is just a tool of their Aspect or their flight," Korialstrasz said. "Every wyrm, every drake, every whelp- we all fulfill our flights' duty, but we're more than that. What we think, what we believe, that matters no matter who we are."

Virigosa dug her talons in the snow, refusing to turn around to face the red wyrm. "I _know_ that," she said. "I wouldn't bother believing anything if I didn't think I had the right. But this was never supposed to happen. Fighting drakes were never meant to be what remained of the Blue Dragonflight."

"How many wyrms do you think were once fighting drakes, Virigosa?" Korialstrasz moved to stand beside her. "It's a sad fact that most drakes don't live to adulthood. Most adult dragons, most wyrms- they're the drakes who survived. The strong, the clever, the-"

"They're all the lucky ones," Virigosa said. "Because that's what it really comes down to. The dragons at Coldarra were the best my flight had to offer, the wisest, the most powerful, the eldest. And now they're dead."

"Luck is a prerequisite, yes," Korialstrasz agreed. "But you need more than luck. Every wyrm, every adult dragon, has lost someone dear to them. Friends, lovers, sometimes everyone they knew and loved. Adult dragons, I've found, maintain a delicate balance between the willingness to persevere and the willingness to give everything for the greater good."

"That won't bring back to the Blue Dragonflight," Virigosa said.

Korialstrasz hesitated for a moment. "No, it won't," he said. There was a long, indecisive pause, and the red wyrm sat down in the snow. "After she was freed from Grim Batol, my queen agreed to help Malygos revitalize the Blue Dragonflight. Then the Nexus War broke out, and that never happened... She agreed to do the same for Kalecgos or Arygos, whichever became Aspect. But now Arygos is a traitor and Kalecgos is dead."

"'Revitalize' the Blue Dragonflight?" Virigosa asked.

"She was planning to create eggs. No parents, completely unique dragons, unrelated to any others," Korialstrasz explained. "But there needed to be an Aspect to imbue them with magic, the flight bond, what would make them blue dragons. We were planning to, at least, try with an elder wyrm if an Aspect was unavailable. But now... after Coldarra..."

"They're all dead," Virigosa said. "So why are you telling me this?"

"She can't create blue dragon eggs, not unless we find another wyrm somewhere out there, but maybe we can do something else," Korialstrasz said. "We can find the remaining blue dragons, see about increasing the number of eggs in a clutch... There _are_ options."

"I don't want to sit here taking about birth rates and clutch sizes when Deathwing is out there trying to kill us all," Virigosa said. "You said you wanted to go through the Blue Dragonflight's artifacts and records? Then let's take a look at them."

* * *

Most of the items left in the Azure Sanctum were locked away in a frozen room. Korialstrasz shapeshifted into a human form in order to fit inside. He pushed open the door, and Virigosa followed him inside. Most of the shelves were bare, but there were odd alcoves in the ice. Virigosa moved her head to get a better look at them, and Korialstrasz stopped to pause and wait for her.

"I think they used to keep phylacteries here," Virigosa said.

"Phylacteries?" Korialstrasz asked. "Like the...?"

"Phylacteries were our idea first, before the Scourge," Virigosa explained, turning back to look at Korialstrasz. "Some of the Blue Dragonflight used to bind spirits and speak to the dead, in the days before the fall of the dragonflights. Sometimes, when an older wyrm would die, a spiritbinder would take their essence and store it in an object, a phylactery. An Aspect's power would be required to make it permanent, so only a willing soul could be kept. The idea was taken and repurposed by the first liches."

"I've never heard of that before," Korialstrasz said.

"Not even you would have," Virigosa said. "My flight kept its secrets well. But they don't matter now." She took a few steps forward, looking at the shelves. "In the past ten thousand years, most of our magic relating to spirits has been forgotten. Sometimes we'd snatch a soul from the jaws of death for interrogation, but almost never for a phylactery. It was pointless, without Malygos. Kalecgos was much better at it than most dragons. He was one of our last real spiritbinders."

"I suppose the Blue Dragonflight would've taken them before the Nexus War, then," Korialstrasz said.

"They were probably all destroyed when the Nexus collapsed," Virigosa agreed. "Along with other priceless artifacts. I hope the green dragons have been able to recover some of them."

Apart from a few staves, there wasn't really anything of note. Virigosa and Korialstrasz left empty-handed and moved to another vault just a short distance away. The walls of this room were lined with half-empty bookshelves, and papers were scattered all over the floor. A few books had fallen off of their shelves, and nobody had bothered to pick them up. Whoever had last been in the room had left in a hurry.

Korialstrasz picked up a book near the doorway, and began to flip through a few pages. Virigosa looked through one of the bookshelves, reading the titles along the books' spines. Most of them were in Draconic.

"I doubt this room has been touched since the Nexus War," Virigosa remarked. "I see _Malygos's Guide to Basic Spellcasting_. That's one of the first textbooks they give the whelps."

"They must've only left anything that they were willing to let us find," Korialstrasz said. "This is a book on the history of the Kaldorei empire."

"A lot of these books are from that period. I see some Highborne genealogy records," Virigosa said. She shapeshifted into her humanoid form to pull a book out from one of the shelves. "This is a Blue Dragonflight census record from before the War of the Ancients. I don't think we've had anything even close to a complete census since Deathwing's betrayal."

"See anything interesting?" Korialstrasz asked.

"I recognize a few of these names. Ancient Kalimdor was full of living legends," Virigosa said, flipping through the pages. "Some of these dragons only just died during the Embrace."

"We keep some similar records," Korialstrasz said, moving to a bookshelf on the opposite side of the room. "We used to take a census every twenty-five years." Virigosa flipped another page of the census record, and studied it for a moment.

"I forgot about Senegos," Virigosa turned to Korialstrasz, dropping the book off to the side. "Senegos was at Coldarra, but he left most of his brood in the Broken Isles. They must not know what happened."

"Senegos..." Korialstrasz echoed. "I remember him. His brood is alive?"

"That's what I've heard," Virigosa said, nodding. "I need to tell them. They deserve to know, and if we leave them there, the Twilight Dragonflight could try to finish the job."

"You don't have to go," Korialstrasz said. "We can send a few drakes south to escort them to Wyrmrest Temple."

"It has to be me. They should hear it from one of their own," Virigosa said. "And I belong out there. I can do more good on the front lines than I ever could at the conclave."

"Then I can find a few of my dragons to go with you whenever you're ready," Korialstrasz said. "I don't want you going alone. We don't know where the Twilight Dragonflight is now, and we don't want to lose you."

"I'll leave in the morning," Virigosa said. "I'm going to go as soon as possible."

* * *

 **A/N: I'd like to apologize for the delay. I had to send my laptop in to be repaired, and of course a simple fix turns into a 40 day thing due to confusion about contracts and the warranty, who's authorized to repair the computer... etc. Hopefully regular updates will resume shortly!**


End file.
